


Tales of the Pirate King: Anarchy

by kuroneko1815



Series: Where the Sea leads us [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: A true D, Adorable Monkey D. Luffy, Alive Ace!, Alive Thatch!, Beware of the Ds. the Tenryuubito will learn to be afraid of the Monkey Clan, D's bring storms, Damn you Akainu!, Die Teach Die!, Don't mess with Lucy's loved ones, Empath, F/M, Female Monkey D. Luffy, Gen, Haki, Legilimency, Monkey D. Luciella has magic cause she's Lily Luna's daughter, Powerful Luffy, Rokushiki, Secret Bandit Queen Dadan, Seer Luna Lovegood, Sem-platonic lifemate Sabo or maybe more?, Silvers Rayleigh is really Alphard Black, Smarter Luffy, So are her Ace and Sabo, The Strawhats are offlimits, Voice of All Things, Wizards and Witches have long lives, the will of D
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 05:19:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16152410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroneko1815/pseuds/kuroneko1815
Summary: Monkey D. Luciella was a curious child, a little girl determined to become the next Pirate King, a title that has been left vacant for four years before her birth and with a powerful gift from her mother's lineage. The marks on her wrist reflective of the (unheard of) soulmarks that are so common in her mother's home. And a child born with the Will of D. Watch as she brings about a storm that shakes the very foundation of the World Government in her quest to be the freest person in the world.If she has to destroy a few tyrants (warlords, kings, marines) and the like, well... even freedom comes at a price. And who is she to deny the freedom of others? Hopefully, Ace will one day stop having heart attacks from her actions.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own One Piece, sadly enough, or Harry Potter (which will be referenced here). I may eventually put it in my tag but not right now.  
> For those of you who have read my other works and are waiting for it, fear not, I haven't abandoned them yet. I'm working on them, very slowly.

Lily Luna bit her lip as she cradled her newborn daughter in her arms. The storm outside rattled the little shack that she and her husband Dragon had taken shelter in. She could feel herself slipping and she knew that she wasn’t long for the world. The man beside her husband, Garp, her father-in-law was standing solemnly. She’d met the man a handful of times, not that he’d known who she was to him at the time and he’d always appeared larger than life and thoroughly boisterous and it had child-rearing left her feeling homesick.

Home. _Mom. Dad._ She looked at her daughter again and wished that she could have had the chance to present her daughter to her parents, to her large and affectionate family who would shelter her from the world and all the ills that it wished upon her but they were in a whole other planet, literally.

The girl, no, the young woman that she had liberated from the slaver’s ship that she’d attacked, who’d followed her because she had promised to return her to Dawn Island (that and the girl was her husband’s cousin), was sitting silently to the side. Her hands stained with Lily Luna’s blood from the birth and her injuries. Makino was such a gentle woman, sweet and kind. _‘She’d make a good mother, one day.’_ Lily Luna thought fondly.

“What will we name her?” Dragon asked quietly as his eyes traced their daughter’s face.

Garp leaned forward. “Princess!” He declared.

“No.”

“But… but she’ll be the Marine’s Princess!”

“She’ll need a strong name to compliment her strong personality and her destiny.” Lily Luna told them as her eyes traced the soulmark on her husband’s arm. They both knew she was dying, the mark on his arm, _her mark_ on him was fading to grey and she knew that Garp had noticed but had chosen not to ask but he needed to know. Soulmarks were unknown in this world but not in hers, her daughter had someone destined for her whether as a platonic lifemate or a romantic one and Garp needed to understand that.

“Luffy?” Her husband offered.

 _Luffy_ , the name rang around in her mind, almost but not quite, and she saw a world where her baby had been born a boy and the name Luffy had been _his_ but she was a girl and that meant something else. Although, the name reminded him of cousin Louise, her favorite. _Louise, Louisa, Lucy…_ Something more regal but related to Lucy?

A soft voice rang out from the other side of the small shack. “How about Luciella?” Makino asked. “It means Light of the Sky or Morning’s Dawn.”

Magic crackled in the air and she could see the two men stiffen. Makino was unaware but the wild and raw magic of this world had agreed with the name and though she was the only one that was able to wield it as something other than Haki or a Devil’s Fruit, she knew that their training had allowed it. She didn’t know if it meant the same thing as it did in her world but she knew that it was a good sign.

“She has a name.” Lily Luna breathed. “Luciella. Back home it means ‘Light of the Heavens’ and more archaic, ‘Lightbringer’. A good omen for you my sweet.” She said as the world grew darker. She felt Dragon shift to sit behind her.

“What adventures will you have, Monkey D. Luciella?” She whispered. “I wish I could be there with you through it but I won’t be able to.” She apologized as her eyes flicked to Garp first and then to Makino. Her daughter wouldn’t be safe with Dragon and he knew it as well, but Fuusha was safe. She’d seen it in her small moments of divination.

“I love you so very much, my precious girl.” She promised as her eyes grew heavy and she felt herself leaning into Dragon’s warmth as his arms took their daughter.

* * *

Holly Potter was having her weekly Weasley family dinner when she sensed it. That spine-tingling sensation that something was wrong, more importantly, something was wrong with one of _her_ babies. The chilling sensation had her dropping her fork, face pale as her eyes caught sight of the ghostly figure at the edge of the room.

Her wonderful and adorkably funny husband, George, turned to her in confusion and worry. “Alright there Holls?”

The moment his hand touched hers, she burst into tears as she channeled her powers as the Master of Death and allowed the specter to be seen by everyone. A hush immediately fell across the room as the apparition solidified. Molly’s strangled gasp reached her ears but she didn’t take her eyes away from the figure.

Her only daughter.

 _Her_ only daughter.

Her _only_ daughter.

Her only _daughter_ was standing there, semi-transparent and deathly pale with a sad and apologetic smile, her eyes pleading.  Her youngest child was dead. The swell on her midsection didn’t bode well.

“My baby’s safe but she won’t be when she grows up.” Lily Luna said with a smile. “Find my Luciella, help her reach her dream. Love her, please… and tell her, I’m sorry.”

George stood up but Holly grabbed his hand and pulled him down. It would hurt worse should his hand go through their daughter. She was gone and she wanted this one thing from them. “I love you all.” She said as she faded and just like that, the dam burst as Molly collapsed to the ground, unable to take the fact that she’d outlived one of her grandbabies. The sobbing followed after that as everyone clung to someone.

* * *

Garp watched his son quietly sitting by the bedside of the red-haired woman, his new granddaughter held protectively in her father’s arms. He hadn’t seen his boy in years and while there were currently no bounties for him, he knew that it was only a matter of time before the government caught wind of him. Right now the Revolutionary Army was just an idea, a whisper that Cipher Pol had yet to find proof on but that would change soon enough.

This brief reunion was something that he hadn’t been expecting, he’d been thrown overboard while his ship was passing through a storm and he’d somehow made his way to this tiny island where his son and apparent daughter-in-law were hiding. He’d recognized the girl with them, of course, he would. Makino was the daughter of the owner of the only bar in Fuusha (who just so happened to be his brother-in-law) and she’d been taken by slavers a few months back. That his daughter-in-law had managed to save her and set the others free was astonishing and had gained her his grudging respect and approval.

The storm outside was calming, giving way to the bright morning sun. A new day. His son stood up and kissed the babe before holding her out to him. “She can’t stay with me.” Dragon announced.

“You’re choosing your army over your daughter?” He asked angrily.

“We talked about this, we talked about…” His son trailed off, _contingencies,_ Garp knew what his son was about to say.

Dragon paused for a moment. “She told me to continue doing what I thought was right and she told me that our daughter would have a happy childhood with you in Fuusha. She _knew_ that our baby was going to be a girl, that she was going to die before our daughter was even a day old, she didn’t know how but she knew she wouldn’t be there to raise her, and she knew that we would be trapped in a storm in a little shack when we gave birth. She _knew_ and she told me to continue on with my path.”

Garp was quiet, and solemn, two things that he wasn’t usually as he took his granddaughter from his heart-broken son and saw the faded mark on his arm. He didn’t understand what it was, only that his son had been born with the initial mark and the words had appeared one day. There was no explanation for it but he’d kept quiet. The World Government was antsy about things that were different.

He looked at his granddaughter again. _Monkey D. Luciella._ He thought as the babe grasped his finger in a surprisingly tight grip and his heart melted. _My Little Marine Princess._

“These are Lily’s things, they belong to Luciella now.” Dragon began again but he handed the key to the trunk that he’d motioned too, to Makino. His son gave one last kiss to his wife before he turned to Garp again.

“Bring them home, Dad.” His son had said and it had been years since his son had called him _dad_. And he’d patted him on his shoulder before turning his attention to his daughter once more. “Know that wherever you go and no matter how far we are from one another, my love and my thoughts will always be with you, My Little Light. Have a good and happy life.” He said softly before walking out of the shack, his body straight and his head held high. That was the Revolutionary Dragon, the founder of the Rebellion and not _his_ Dragon.

His crew would be panicking by now and he’d need to get a hold of a Den Den Mushi to contact them for a pickup but his daughter in law needed to be cremated. He’d take all three home, just as his son had asked. He waited for a few more moments, simply gazing at the babe before handing her over to Makino and striding out into the town.

It was a full day before his frantic crew was able to pick them up and he’d directed their course to Marineford. He had two years worth of vacations available to him to raise his sweet granddaughter and he’d take it no matter what Sengoku had to say about it. The crew is curious as to the woman and child he’s brought on and to the trunk (that secretly carried his daughter-in-law’s urn) that came with them but a quick and highly edited explanation of the babe’s relation to him and Makino’s introduction as her hired caretaker appeases them.

Sengoku is not pleased that hadn’t arrested his son (who still hadn’t been given a bounty) and even less so when he asks for his backlogged vacation days to be given to him in one go. He’s taken a few trips to see Ace through the past three years but it was usually while he was patrolling near Dawn Island and wasn’t counted within his vacation days. His friend softens at the infant that was his godson’s daughter and begrudgingly gives in to his demands for a time off. It seems as though his little princess had a certain way about her that captured the hearts of those she came in contact with, adorable for now but dangerous (for the boys that would eye his granddaughter and for his own blood pressure) in the future. Tsuru just coos at her and giggles at his fears for the future.

His crew was likewise enamored with the newborn who had grown in the month that it had taken them to get to Marineford. Kuzan, his protege likes to take his naps with Lucy, just as much as Garp himself does, and everyone seems to fight over his little girl! He knew that they would want updates on his precious little girl and he’d be happy to oblige. A new Den Den Mushi specifically for video and pictures had been purchased on the way home to Fuusha and he’d spent countless hours soothing the babe, taking turns with Makino. The little mark on her wrist, a mirror to Ace’s,  a constant source of worry for him. He’d read about it in the letter he’d found inside the trunk that was addressed specifically for _him_ (and one to Makino that he’d refused to read) and it had told him a lot about soulmarks within Lily’s people though she didn’t mention where she was from, only that her people had special gifts that mimicked Devil’s fruits.

He worries about Ace constantly, as a boy, it would be easier to identify the features of Roger on him than it would be to look at Luciella and see the Revolutionary Dragon on her face. For all that Garp could be obtuse and a bit slow in the eyes of the world, he’s not actually dumb. He chooses not to think too much on things lest the moments pass him by, but he will give it a lot of thought when it comes to the lives and safety of others.

Ace will be a fine marine, and Luciella will be a good marine’s wife. They would be protected by their status should news of their heritage come out because they’re good, law-abiding citizens who would prove the ‘danger-of-the-bloodline’ crap wrong. So he goes to visit Ace a few times a week and brings with him educational toys and books because a good marine should be able to read, write, and do their sums. Though the toddler is proving to have such a fiery temper already.

One day, those two would meet and he prayed that their story wouldn’t end in the tragedy that Luciella’s parents’ had. Though their relationship would be interesting in the least, Ace was more than half-wild already and the insecurities that come with his father’s legacy will pit him against the world… and Lucy, well, his little princess was even more stubborn than Ace. Though how those two would be able to feed themselves in the future, that would be a fun problem for them since both of them have appetites larger than any grown marine.

* * *

“Mak’no-nee!” The childish voice of her charge called out as she toddled in, her hair a mess of jet-black curls and large, dark eyes constantly alight with mischief and warmth. Her frilly pink dress, a gift from Garp from his most recent trip was spattered with mud from where she’d no doubt ventured into the forest.

It had been nearly six years since the day Garp had returned her to the village and into her worried father’s arms and the little girl she’d help deliver had been a balm to her as she returned to the normality of village life, she was one of the few liberated while the others had lost their lives or had chosen to end it before being sold to slavery itself (many more disappeared into the wind, sold before they could be free) and the village of Fuusha reflected in the decreased population. The village now kept a tight watch as men and women kept weapons close to them and hidey-holes ready for the children (not that there were many, and none that would play with Lucy because she was a _D_ with a strength that not even most grown men could stand against).

Every life was valuable but the children were even more so, even one as peculiar and odd as Monkey D. Luciella. The little Monkey had a tendency to run away into the forest claiming that someone was waiting for her, that she _needed_ to go there, _needed_ to find him. It didn’t take long for her to realize that Luciella was unknowingly talking about her soulmark. Her savior’s letter had explained it in detail and she’d marveled at the fact that Lily had known that she would be bound to her daughter even before she’d met her.

While the coloring was off, Luciella’s every feature seemed to resemble her mother’s and the silvery glow of her skin, practically invisible to everyone else. _Allure_ , Lily had called it, whatever it was made her golden tanned skin glow luminous and other worldly. Makino had no doubt that the Luciella, Lucy, would become a very beautiful woman in the near future and that the person whose mark she carried would have a hell of a time fighting off would-be suitors. (In the forest not too far from Fuusha, Portgas D. Ace sneezed as he counted his latest loot, snot and spit flying onto the blonde haired child in front of him who wrinkled his nose in disgust and promptly hit him with a pipe).

“I’m hungry!” The demand was said as fiercely as a six-year-old could as she pouted up at her and Makino had to laugh at the sight.

She nodded. “Yes, yes. I’ll make dinner but you’ll have to wash up and I want your school work done before dinner or you won’t get dessert.”

“Okay!” All Makino saw was the blur of pink and black that sped away from her and she smiled. Lily’s daughter was growing up happy, safe, and loved. The memories of that day still drifted into her mind from time to time, the cold from the winds, the fear that the shack would collapse, the hunger and weariness from the days of fearing the worst on that slave ship, the worry for her savior and her unborn child, and at the end of it all sadness at the loss but the warmth of the sunlight as the storm dispersed and the awe at the new life that had come with the sun. Monkey D. Luciella was destined for great things, she was, as her name meant, the heavenly light meant to bring about a new age.

 _‘Grow strong, Lucy, strong and wise but never lose track of who you are, of that innocent and loving heart that you have.’_ Makino thought as she turned off the stove.

* * *

“PIRATES!” That one word spoken as the bells rang throughout the town had the people scrambling for weapons as the children were ushered into secret tunnels to hide them with the women and the elderly bracketing the children. Makino’s mind immediately went to Lucy as her heart stopped. Her little girl was no doubt in the forest at this very moment and may even be rushing back into the village after she heard the bells ringing.

 _‘Please, please, stay in the forest, Lucy. I’ll come to get you, just stay there.’_ Makino prayed desperately as she ran out of her bar just as the pirates were maneuvering themselves into the dock.

She saw Mayor Woop Slap and a few men gather in front of the docks as the pirates disembarked. Her first thought of the man at the head of the crew was that his hair was the _exact_ same shade of red as Lily’s had been, she was too far to tell anything else though. As she rushed towards the forest, she saw the small form that darted out of the forest a little white and blue striped dress with an anchor printed in the middle (one of the many nautical/naval themed dresses that Garp bestowed on her). Lucy ran towards the men and Makino changed directions immediately, her bat clutched tightly in her hands.

“Luciella!” Mayor Woop Slap said as he caught the little girl and pushed her behind him.

The little girl stared at the pirates wide-eyed as the captain stared back as well, a small smile on his face. Makino finally reached the delegation and pulled Lucy into her arms, ready to bolt away in a moment’s notice. She could see the other men behind the red-head shift at the reception.

“This is new. I don’t think we’ve done anything to get this reception, yet.” The red-head said, bemused.

Lucy turned in her arms and stared at the man again. “Are you slavers?” She asked.

The man blinked and stepped back in shock and Makino couldn’t help but notice the similarities in his face to Lucy’s as her throat tightened. _‘Was he some family of Lily’s?’_ She thought.

“We’re not.” He said sincerely. “We’re just here to resupply and get a few drinks. I’m sorry for the scare we put you through.”

“Who are you?” Lucy demanded.

“I’m Shanks, Captain of the Red-haired pirates.” He said brightly.

“But why are they called Red-haired pirates if you’re the only one who’s got red-hair?” The little girl demanded.

Laughter rang through the pirates at the little girl’s question. “Because I’m the captain. It’s what I’m known by.” Shanks told her.

Lucy looked at all of them, head tilted to the side adorably but many in the village knew that she was ‘hearing’ something in the same way that Lucy heard the winds change and would tell them that a storm was coming even through clear skies. She nodded to herself, apparently satisfied with whatever it was she found as she turned her head to the mayor. “They’re nice! I like them.” Her sunny smile eased the mayor’s tension. This hadn’t been the first time this had happened, Lucy’s initial assessment of people was usually correct.

Makino released the little girl who was in a staring contest with Shanks. “Well, I’m glad I have your approval, Little Anchor.” The twitching of her eyebrows showed that she did not like the new name at all.

“Don’t call me that!” An adorable pout on her face had most of the pirates blushing. “My name’s Monkey D. Luciella but you can call me Lucy!”

And with that, she grabbed the hand of the captain and led him to the bar with the rest of the pirates following them. The villagers dispersed to let everyone out and tell them that it was safe. Makino was relaxing though, on edge from the physical similarities that ‘Shanks’ had with Lily Luna.

It wasn’t till the end of the day that a tired Lucy had mentioned the Captain’s resemblance to her mother. “You have pretty hair.” Lucy murmured drowsily as she leaned on Shanks, hand playing with the red strands as everyone laughed. “It’s just like Mama’s.”

“Mama?” Shanks blinked as he turned to Makino.

Makino knew the source of the confusion. No woman had come to claim Lucy as her child and the little girl stuck close to Makino at all times. It wasn’t a stretch for outsiders to think that Lucy was her daughter so she shook her head. “Her mother saved my life at the cost of her own so I’m watching over Lucy for her and her father is my cousin. But yes, you do have the same hair as she does. The same shade of red, at least.”

“Same shade of red…” Benn Beckman echoed. “That’s odd, we’ve never seen anyone with the same hair as…” He peered closer at the duo sitting at the bar. Makino saw the moment that Ben saw what she had been seeing the whole day. “Well, I’ll be… If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that the Captain can pass off as her father!”

The whole bar froze at that as they turned to scrutinize the pair, Shanks’ eyes were wide but Lucy was already napping. “Huh.” Yassop said as he blinked, rubbed his eyes, then went back to staring at the pair. “You’re right.”

“The first thing I noticed was that his hair was the same as Lily’s and when I got closer, well… I raised Lucy after all. I saw a lot of her features, of Lily’s features, in your Captain’s face. I thought he might have been a long lost relative of some sort.” Makino explained helpfully to dispel any thoughts that the little girl was the Red-head’s love child.

“I wouldn’t actually know if we were related. My mother refused to speak about her family, only telling me that they were far away. I always thought that meant that they were dead. The only thing I have is this…” He said as he lifted a little necklace with a small token emblazoned with two interlocking torches.

Makino blinked and stared at the necklace. “Lily had one as well. It was supposedly given to every child born in the Owens family.” She explained as she returned the necklace before going to the back room where she kept a picture of Lucy’s mother for the bad days.

She handed the photo to the Captain who took it with one arm, the other wrapped on the sleeping little girl. All the pirates gathered around their Captain, eyes drifting from the picture to the man holding it. “Is she your sister then?” Lucky Roo asked.

“I don’t think so.” Makino cut in. “I know she had two older brothers, one had black hair and the other had the firey-red that their father’s family had, Lily, was the only one who inherited their mother’s crimson red hair from the Owens family.”

“A cousin then.” Shanks declared, face softening as he returned the photo to the pretty woman on the other side of the bar. Face pressing into the soft hair of the child in his arms. The others settled down, apparently happy for their Captain. _‘Well now, Garp’s not going to be happy about this.’_ Makino thought happily as she prepared dinner at the bar for everyone, making sure that they had extra portions for Lucy when she woke up from her nap. Thankfully, the child had started eating with more manners and grace though her intake and speed were just the same.

* * *

Shanks cursed as the smoke cleared and his eyes immediately sought his niece only to have his heart stop when he failed to see her. _‘Stupid! Why didn’t I just kill those bandits earlier. Lucy obviously knew that they were bad news!’_ He thought.

He clutched his face in horror. “Oh no! I let them get Lucy!” He screamed as he turned his head frantically from side to side.

“We’ll get ‘er back Cap’n.” One of his men said but he wasn’t listening because dammit all, he’d finally found family, blood that was, and he wasn’t about to let her come to harm. It was why he’d shot down all of her requests (begging) to be taken to sea with them (that and the fact that Garp would hunt them down and annihilate them with prejudice for taking his little princess).

It wasn’t that much longer that he found himself out in the water chasing after the bastard Higuma and trying to get his sweet little niece back only to panic further when a seaking burst from the water just as Lucy was thrown out of the boat. The little girl was paralyzed and Shanks reached out and grabbed the girl, holding her close to him just as the seaking turned it’s attention to them (Higuma was gone but the boat was still there so he must have been eaten).

Shanks was just about to release some Haki when Lucy beat him to it. “LEAVE US ALONE, MEANIE!” She screamed and he felt the unmistakeable oppressive feeling of Conqueror’s Haki wash over him and he stared at the little girl in awe. He already knew that she had the ‘Voice of All Things’ but ‘Conqueror’s Haki’ as well? These were two of his Captain’s greatest tools when he was conquering the Grand Line (not counting the sheer stubborn will, idiocy, and all around daring the man possessed).

The Seaking collapsed and Shanks promptly made his way back to the island with the little girl sniffling into his wet shirt. They were met by the frantic town’s people and his crew as they made their way to the beach. They were quickly given towels and ushered away to be looked over by Doc.

“That was some Haki, Cap’n.” Benn said.

Shanks shook his head. “That wasn’t me.”

His first mate stared at him as his eyes turned to the exhausted little girl on the bed. “She’s gonna be powerful.”

“Yes, she will be.”

“What are you gonna do, Cap’n?”

“We’ll delay leaving for now. We have time before Garp returns. I’m not going to leave her unprepared.” Shanks told him, grim.

“Aye, and Hawk-Eye will be here for another visit soon.” Benn reminded him. Shanks smirked as he thought of the party he would be throwing for his ‘rival’. For all of his stoic behavior, Shanks knew that Mihawk Dracule was _very_ fond of Luciella and he had even caught the Shichibukai trying to teach the little girl some swordplay.

The smile fell from Shank’s face. “There are other things that don’t add up. Things that happen when she’s around, when she gets angry or…” He trailed off as he thought of the glasses exploding after the bandits left during the first encounter.

“Aye, I noticed that too. Never seen anything of the like.”

“She got it from her mother.” Makino’s voice cut in as she stepped into the room. “I saw Lily wield it as easily as a chef wields a knife. I saw her turn men into objects, blow things up with a wave of her hand, and conjure the four elements one after another and all she told me was that it ran in her family.”

“The World Government should never know.” Benn said, face dark as Shanks nodded his head. Garp was obviously keeping quiet about it as well, given the lack of Cipher Pol agents sniffing around the island.

Shanks turned his gaze back to the little girl sleeping on the bed, her pink lips parted and her dark lashes splayed over the tan skin that gave off a healthy (and was that silver of the moon’s) glow. His heart softened as he brushed his hand gently over the small face as the little girl sighed and nuzzled the hand. “It seems like the life of a Pirate is the way to go for Lucy.”

That was when he noticed the writings on her wrist along with the Crowned Spade with a circle set in the heart and a line that ran down the middle of it. He blinked and read the words on her tattoo (and wasn’t she a little too young to have one?). _‘What do you mean you found me? Who are you?’_ and right in between the sentence and the symbol was the word _Ace_. Shanks blinked again, Lucy’s wrist had always been covered for one reason or another.

“Is that a tatoo?” Benn asked incredelously.

Makino giggled. “Her mother’s people don’t just have those special gifts to set them apart from us. The people there are commonly born with marks on their body that mirrors another in location. One symbol that means the two of them, the name of the other person, and the first word that the other would say to them. Her parent’s had each other’s marks and apparently it’s meant to dictate the other half of their soul. It’s not always romantic, sometimes it’s platonic. Twins may have each other’s marks after all.”

A soulmate? Shanks blinked. That sounded like it came straight from a romance novel. And then the words finally clicked in his mind. “ROMANTIC?!?” He shrieked and Lucy jolted awake.

“Shh, it’s alright. Benn just stepped on your Uncle Shank’s foot.” Makino said soothingly, hand stroking the little girl’s hair until her breathing evened out.

Shanks was covering his mouth with his own hands as he sheepishly smiled at the dark glares that the two adults were giving him. “So, umm… Romantic?” He asked in a low voice.

“What type of relationship they’ll have will be up to them. From what Lily wrote, it seems like the majority of soul pairs do end up in a romantic _monogamous_ relationship.” Makino said.

Benn smiled wickedly. “Well, whoever it is, he’ll have to get our approval first.”

“Who said anything about it being a boy? It could just as easily be a girl. Lucy’s young enough that we don’t know where her actual preferences lie.” Makino told them.

Shanks blanched, this topic was a hundred years to early to be discussed. His sweet adorably innocent, little anchor was too young and pure to be pawed at by some ambiguous person. “Stop. I don’t wanna even think about it.” Shanks said pleadingly.

Benn smiled at his captain in sympathy and he knew that Yasopp would probably agree with the captain. Their small crew all became fond of their captain’s niece and Yasopp whose son was the same age, found his paternal instincts kicking in. The little girl swung back and forth between calling both men a variation of father, uncle, or their name depending on her mood and Benn knew that the sentiments were returned wholly by Yasopp and Shanks.

“Well then, what about her training?” Benn asked.

“Garp trains her a bit when he’s here. The two of them go off into the forest to hunt, though I know he wants her to be a Marine's wife.”

“A marine’s…” Shanks paused. “He does know that if anyone finds out about Lucy’s gifts, the government would take her and turn her into a weapon, right?”

“I think… Garp has thought about it but as a Marine’s wife, in his mind, she’d be protected and far away from the Government’s eyes.” Makino confessed. Because in this tiny village, the Government could care less about what was happening outside of the city and the secrets of this small settlement stayed within its confines.

“Maybe some grounding in Rokushiki as well? Kasha was a marine before this so he could probably teach her the preferred form of the WG. Mihawk can teach her some more about swords when he gets here and maybe how to shoot? We’ll have to do it around Lucy’s other lessons of course.” Shanks said, adding the last bit as a concession to stop Makino’s glare.

“And maybe a few day trips around the area? Get her to know things about sailing and the ships?” Benn pitched in.

Makino raised a brow at them before nodding. Both men grinned at her as they turned their gaze back to the sleeping little girl.

* * *

The day of the Red Haired Pirate’s final departure from Foosha came at last as Lucy spent time giving hugs and care packages for the crew. Her last was to her favorites, of course. They had gotten longer hugs or rains of kisses and a storm of tears that was much reciprocated by the men. Shanks pressed his sweet little niece close to him as she whimpered into his shirt.

“I’m going to be a pirate one day and I’m going to gather my own crew, maybe ten or so and I’ll become the Pirate King. I’ll be the freest person in the world!” She declared once she was set down. Everyone laughed at the determined look on the little girl’s face, except of course for her uncle. Shanks saw the expression on her face and heard the words that she’d said, an echo of his captain’s so long ago.

He reached for the straw hat on his head and placed it on her’s. “Take care of this, it’s my greatest treasure, given to me by my captain when I was just starting out on my journey. He wore that when he started out on his. Return that to me when you’ve become a great pirate, Little Anchor.” He said with a smile.

He found himself with an armful of the little girl once again. “I love you, Papa Shanks.” She whispered.

“I love you too, Lucy.” He replied before pulling away and walking on to his ship. His eyes trailed along the quiet little village filled with watchtowers, warning bells, and windmills and saw that all of the villagers had come out to greet them farewell, hands waving in the air and there, by the docks, stood Makino and Lucy watching them sail away.

“That was a nice village.” Lucky Roo said as some of the others gathered together and watched the village disappear.

“Coming here was a good idea.” Yasopps said, eyes on the horizon where the little girl that the Red Haired Pirates had practically adopted had disappeared too.

“I’m more interested in the storm she’ll bring when she finally sets out to sea.” Benn said leaning back with a smirk. “The world will never be the same.”

Shanks smiled at those words, his mind drifting to the name on Lucy’s wrist. He didn’t like the thought of some man (or woman since apparently, Ace could be a woman’s name as well) with an interest in Lucy in _that_ way but he knew that it would happen eventually, even if it wasn’t with the person whose name was seared into her skin. (He wouldn’t meet Ace for another nine years and not until the rookie pirate sought him out and by then, the name would have escaped his mind).

* * *

The forest was thick and Lucy struggled to follow the pull she felt, each and every time she went to follow it throughout the years, she had always gotten there too late as the pull would stay in one place for a long time but would move before she could get there. She’d been following the pull for three years now and she decided that today she would definitely find what it was that was pulling her deeper and deeper into the forest. Following the familiar trail she sprinted in desperation, she had set out even before the pull had begun so she _should_ reach the source before it moved.

Bursting into the clearing, Lucy saw two boys who gazed at her with wide eyes, bags of berris and jewelry dropping to the floor in front of them. She focused on the dark-haired boy and she beamed at him, throwing her arms around him and feeling complete. “There you are! I’ve finally found you!” She said happily to the boy who stiffened in her arms.

The blonde-haired boy gasped as the boy in her arms pushed her away. “What do you mean you found me? Who are you?”

Lucy’s smile widened because the boy had said _her_ words. “My name is Monkey D. Luciella!” She grabbed his arm and took a look at his mark before showing hers, finally, Mama’s letter said that when she found the person who’s mark matched hers, she would always feel that person, never feel alone as long as they were both alive. She hugged him again as she laughed.

* * *

Sabo watched the girl who had suddenly appeared in their clearing as she said the mysterious words that had been written on Ace’s arm for so long (hidden by a bracelet or by pieces of cloth tied to his wrist to hide it). Ace had said that he’d been born with the symbol but the name _Luciella_ and the words came later when he was three. The girl looked to be six or seven, certainly, around the time the words had supposedly shown up on his best friend.

Monkey D. **_Luciella_** she’d introduced herself before going for Ace’s arm and presenting her own. The same symbol marked her arm, Ace’s name, and his words to her were there, permanently marked on her skin. Just what did those marks mean that they would have each other’s first words written on their skin? The girl was tiny and… adorable but still a threat to their pirate dream. Their treasure needed to be guarded.

“Who are you?” She asked after a pause, head tilted to the side as she looked at Sabo.

“I’m Sabo and that’s Ace.” Sabo introduced automatically (and a bit numb from the shock). The pain of Ace’s fist meeting his head snapped him out of it.

The girl let out a laugh as she watched them. “She knows where our stash is, we have to kill her.”

“You’re right, we do.” Sabo agreed and was shocked when Ace handed him a knife.

“Go on, Sabo.”

“Eh? Why me? I’ve never killed anyone!”

“I haven’t either!”

The sound of a growling had them stop and they turned to the little girl. “Ahh, I’m hungry. I set out right after breakfast to make it here before the pull moved places.” She said, not even paying attention to the boys as she brought out her rather large backpack and pulled out a picnic blanket and some Tupperware filled with food and bottles filled with juice and water.

Before their very eyes, a picnic with more food than they could have imagined would fit into the backpack had appeared before their eyes and they felt the familiar pangs of hunger erupt as they stared at the spread jealously. “Eh? What are you still doing there? You don’t want to eat with me?” The little girl asked.

Sabo shared a look with Ace before running to the blanket. “So, uhh, Luciella…” Sabo began.

“Lucy.” She said with a smile.

“… Lucy… you said something about a _pull_ and you seem to know about the words on Ace’s skin and yours. Can you tell us about it?” Sabo asked.

Lucy paused from where she was eating a ham sandwich and hmmed, head tilted to the side. “Uhh, mama called them soulmarks and said that everyone back in her home was born with them.”

“And, ah…, what are soulmarks?” Sabo prompted the girl again.

“Eh? It’s supposed to mean that you’re never going to be alone as long as the other person is alive. They’re the other half of your soul.” Lucy told them.

 _‘Other half of your soul’_ the words kept echoing in Sabo’s mind. Other half, as in, husband and wife? Sabo tried and failed to imagine Ace and Lucy as a couple but ended up shuddering at the thought. The little girl was too bubbly and bright especially when placed next to his friend, and then there was Ace, and the less said about his _sparkling_ personality, the better.

“Tchh, that’s nothing but a lie. There’s no such thing as soulmarks, and even if there were, it doesn’t really say anything good about you to be the _other half_ of someone born with a demon’s blood.” Ace spat out.

Lucy looked at Ace with a pout. “Is that why you’re always so angry and hurting?”

Sabo sucked in a breath. “What would you know about it?” Ace demanded as he dropped the sandwich in his hands, fists clenched as he glared at the girl.

“I can feel it. I thought… I thought someone was hurting you but it wasn’t like how it is whenever I trip… it hurts worse like it’s inside…” Lucy trailed off, brows furrowed and lips drawn into a pout. Sabo had the feeling that she didn’t really try to think all that deeply too often, something that reminded him of the other nobles from High Town, though Lucy was admittedly better looking than most. As Sabo examined the girl again, he noted her refined features and had to wonder whether or not she had some noble blood within her.

“You… don’t tell me you can feel Ace’s emotions as well!” Sabo asked as the girl’s words finally sunk in.

The girl nodded. “I can feel Ace’s the most! Other’s only when they’re close. Gramps is trying to teach me how to… to block it cause it gets loud with the whispers from the wind and the voices from people.”

“Voices from people and whispers in the wind…” Sabo trailed off. _‘Can she read minds?’_ Sabo thought as he stared at the girl.

“Ehh? Why would I read minds? Is that like a book?” Lucy asked.

Sabo froze. “You… you just read my mind!”

“Yeah, it was your voice after all!”

“What the hell are you two talking about? Sabo didn’t say anything.” Ace said through the bites of the sandwich.

“What about the whispers in the wind?”

Lucy cocked her head to the side as she stared at a bird on the tree. She held out her hand. “Come here birdy!” She said happily and the bird arrived. The bird started chirping and Lucy looked as if she were listening to the bird. The two exchanged words and chirps for a few minutes before the bird flew off. Sabo shared a glance with Ace, they didn’t understand what had happened.

“Let me guess, the whispers in the wind are the voices of the animals?” Ace drawled. Lucy nodded as she stole some food from them. Sabo would have normally protested and he knew Ace would have hit the girl but the sight of her arms expanding far past what was normal had made the words die from his lips.

“You… you’re arm!”

Lucy blinked at them as her hand paused over their plates and she looked at them. “Ahh! I accidentally ate a Devil’s fruit that the pirates had and it turned me into a rubber person!” She said happily.

Ace scoffed. “As if you’ve ever met pirates. And if you have then they’re probably some weaklings!”

Sabo had never seen a person’s mood flip so quickly until he met Lucy. Her cheeks puffed out as she suddenly jumped onto Ace. “I have too! Shanks is the Captain of the Red-Haired Pirates and he’s very strong, he saved my life from no good mountain bandits! He swam all the way to get me when the bandits threw me into the water and he fought the Lord of the Coast!” She screamed as she started hitting the boy. Soon enough the two were rolling on the ground, Lucy’s frilly pink dress getting splattered in mud as the two went back and forth in their argument.

Sabo continued eating as he watched the two, soon enough, the argument began to devolve into very personal things, at least for Ace. His blood and his heritage were coming out with the self-recriminations and it was interesting to watch Lucy argue against them, arguing about his worth and his right to live. Until this day Sabo had no idea that his best friend thought so lowly of himself. When the two finally tired themselves out, he approached them.

Lucy was lying on top of Ace, the pigtails in her hair were askew and her dress was torn in certain places. Ace’s outfit wasn’t fairing any better. “Ace.” Sabo called out and he watched as his friend stiffened before pushing the little girl off.

“Oh, Ace. Do you really believe you don’t deserve to live?” Sabo asked gently. To know that Ace was hurting so badly, that he’d been oblivious to it this whole time… it unsettled him.

“What does it matter? It’s the truth.”

“No, no it’s not. Ace, why would you even believe that? Just because your father is _that_ man.” Sabo refused to use Roger’s name in fear of Ace’s reaction.

“Your dad’s Gold Roger, right! I heard he was pretty cool and funny!” Lucy, however, had no such compunctions as her bright and awed smile showed him. He saw Ace beginning to get riled up. “I heard… I heard that he was really sick and he was dying anyway so he allowed them to catch him and he made them promise Annie's tea for his Nakama.”

“Uhh, I think you mean amnesty, Lucy.” Sabo corrected before blinking. “Wait, what?”

Lucy nodded. “Yeah, a lot of them retired from the pirate life since they were old and since Gramps promised not to go after them unless they got more bounties, they all split up. Shanks was a cabin boy for your dad and his stories about him were always so great!”

“Of course they’d think he was cool! He was their captain! What would he know? Everyone else says that my dad was a demon!” Ace protested.

“Silly Ace, why should you care about what people think when they don’t know your dad in real life? I bet everyone you asked only knew about the things the New Coo told them and not about what he was really like.” She said with a gentle smile as she patted his head. “If you ask the people who only know the things told to them by others, then you’ll never understand because they don’t understand too! They only know to be afraid and to hate them because they don’t go on adventures and they’ve never seen the whole world! You should ask the people who knew him, those who loved him and who hated him and I bet you’ll find that there are more people who love him then you could think.”

Sabo blinked at the wise words from the seemingly oblivious and naïve girl. Ace’s shoulders dropped.  “And I bet you can ask gramps about him!” Lucy added.

“Gramps?” Sabo asked.

“Monkey D. Garp, better known as the Hero of the Marines, Garp the Fist. He caught my… my father.” Ace said.

Sabo stared at the two dark-haired children in horror. “How… how do you know that, Ace?”

“Because he adopted me, so he’s my grandpa too.” Ace admitted quietly.

Sabo pieced it together, the Pirate King captured by his greatest rival and his son secreted away and raised by said rival. Had… had Ace been kidnapped?

“I’m nothing but a burden to everyone. Shitty gramps only took me home with him cause my dad made him promise to take care of me and… and mom.” Ace finished quietly.

Ace’s mom. That seemed to be a large taboo. It seemed unfair to Sabo that Lucy seemed to have been raised lovingly in a village while Ace had been raised by mountain bandits until he really thought about it. There were countless people descended from Pirates, so why the secrecy around Ace? Why was Ace so different that his father feared for his, and by extension, his mother’s, lives that he was willing to entrust their safety, not to his friends among his Nakama but to his rival? And then the picture began to form. Gold Roger was the most wanted man at the time and, well, the privilege of the nobles was inherited so would the World Government see Ace as the representation of his father’s sins? Cursed to bear the sins of the father and something that needed to be extinguished? His blood ran cold. Where better to hide your child than with your rival, your so-called worst enemy? They would never think to look for the child with the Hero of the Marines, giving him to his friends would be like sticking a target on him and with Gold Roger dying anyway, there wouldn’t be anyone to protect him.

He took in the two Ds again and thought about their personalities. Ace was bitter and angry at the world, internalizing all the hatred and scathing words said about his father by those who were ignorant. He was lashing out at everyone, himself included. In contrast, Lucy was bright and happy, warm and giving, with what Sabo could see was an unfathomable amount of love to give, someone who always saw the positive and could, given time, perhaps heal Ace’s wounds. Yes, he believed that the soulmarks were well matched. And he itched to learn more about them too.

He watched his friend blush as Lucy wrapped her arms around him, giggling as she whispered reassurances to him and repeated a (frankly barely coherent) story about his father. Perhaps it would be more understandable if Lucy didn’t cut off her words with her giggles. Then again, her words were mispronounced and trying to understand them meant missing key details of the story but seeing Ace’s almost shy smile as he looked at the girl, Sabo decided it didn’t matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This kinda just popped into my head. Ace still has issues about his dad. A single day isn't going to change years worth of negativity and being told that he didn't deserve to live. Lucy and Sabo will be a big help in it, the Whitebeard Pirates will also help (though I do question their recruitment methods), but ultimately, it will be up to Ace to accept what the people who love him tell him, to believe that he is worth it. Lucy's different from Luffy in that she's a girl with a different set of expectations placed on her and only her mother's letters and Makino's lessons to guide her, for now (the access to her mother's memories through a pensieve and her books won't come until later) and really, Garp has no idea about proper child-rearing methods (especially for a girl) so it isn't until Ace and Sabo come into the picture that her more boyish traits (excluding the combat and survival lessons which started way too early in my opinion) came out. The Owens that are being referred to when it comes to Shanks is from Practical Magic and has been used in Fate Interrupted. I hope you enjoyed it! Please tell me what you guys think.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a few little glimpses into their childhood.

Garp wasn’t pleased when he’d returned to a granddaughter wearing a (familiar) old straw hat and sprouting nonsense about becoming the Pirate King. Garp refrained from thinking ill of the Red Haired Brat or his annoying Captain within Lucy’s vicinity, the girl could hear people’s thoughts after all. So on the last day of his vacation, he tucked his beloved granddaughter under his arm and headed up the mountain. Leaving his granddaughter with the bandits was something he’d been thinking off for a while but he’d been hesitant to separate Makino from her, not when she was what kept her going on the bad days.

The Bandits gave their token protest, it’s silly, he knows they’re huge softies and they really want to take in another one of his adorable grandchildren, especially one as cute as Lucy. A part of him admits that he’s been waiting for this for a long time, introducing his two grandchildren to one another, waiting for them to say those long-awaited words and it would be all because of him! Him! His grandchildren will be so thankful…

“Oh, hey Lu! What are you doing here?” Ace’s voice rings out as Garp spins to face his grandson. The bandits have all fallen silent as well.

“Ace!” Lucy squeals as she pulls away from him and into his grandson’s arms. Wait. What? Those two have met? And without me? No, ‘thanks for introducing us, Grandpa, we’ll become fine marines as thanks’?

Garp’s mind stops and he fails to notice the little blonde boy that was sitting on the beast behind the two children. He raised his fist and approached the two. “Ho! So you two know each other. That’s good because Lucy’s going to be living with you from now on.” He said as he gives them a fist of love when neither of them pays any attention to their beloved grandfather.

“OW! What the hell shitty gramps?!?” Ace says as he finally turns his attention to him, his hands cradling the growing bump on his head.

Garp ignores the insult as he kneels in front of the boy. “Ace, I’m trusting you to keep Lucy safe, okay? She’s strong for a girl but you’re older and a boy who's had more training. She’s going to be staying with you from now on, okay.” He tries to convey just how serious this is, Garp had seen his son’s heartbreak the moment the mark faded, he knew that if anything happened to Lucy, it would destroy the boy far more than the knowledge of his father’s identity.

He finally spots the boy, standing next to his granddaughter, giving weary glances. He blinked, unsure of who the boy was, he was sure that he only had the one grandson but the bandits don’t seem too shocked that there was another boy here. “And who are you?”

“I’m Sabo, Ace’s friend. I live here now.”

“Oh, so you’re my grandson now too!” Garp said with a grin and gave him a fist of love as a welcome before walking away with a laugh. He threw one last look at the three children, a smile on his face as he started counting down the days until his next vacation. A new grandchild to train and play with! His mind thought excited.

* * *

The months after Lucy’s arrival passed by quickly with Ace and Sabo taking her to Grey Terminal with them or helping her get back to her village. Although it wasn’t all smooth sailing, especially when Lucy had been caught and tortured by Porchemy. After realizing what had happened to her,  Ace went into a rage, not even Sabo would have been able to calm him down from (not that he was inclined to). After beating the pirate within an inch of his life and leading Lucy away to be treated, Ace lit into her.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST TELL THEM WHERE THE TREASURE IS? DON’T YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR LIFE?” Ace yelled at her, barely holding back from grabbing her and shaking her.

Lucy’s head hung low as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I was scared you and Sabo would stop being my friends if I told them where your treasure is.” She said softly. Ace faltered and he could see Sabo’s face soften.

“Why would that be more important than your life and safety?” Ace asked

“Because you and Sabo are my only friends. Makino is in the village and I can’t go there too much or gramps will get mad and even back home… I could never play with the others. I’d be all alone if you stopped being friends with me and being alone is worse than being hurt.” She told them.

Ace remembered all those times he had asked about his father, about what it would mean to be his father’s son. He remembered the hatred and the scorn but here was Lucy, his apparent other half, who was willing to endure torture and even possible death all to keep him within her life.

“Stupid, your life is more important to us than the treasure.” Sabo tells her as he pulls her into a hug.

Ace follows suit. “Besides, you're my other half, right? What makes you think I’ll just leave you for something like that. We’re bound for life.” He tells her, hitting her head gently. Lucy’s arms wrap around them a few times as Ace and Sabo just share smiles over her head.

* * *

Not too long after Lucy’s (unwilling) time with Porchemy, Ace dragged the two children to their favorite clearing, overlooking the sea. He put a bottle of Dadan’s finest sake on the stump along with three sake cups and grinned as he filled them. He took in the confused looks of the two before him and his smile widened.

“Umm… Ace, why do you have sake?” Sabo asked, nose scrunching up at the smell.

“Did you guys know that if three people share a sake, they become family?” Ace asked happily.

Lucy’s eyes widened as she and Sabo immediately grabbed a cup each and raised it in front of Ace.

“One day, we’ll be in different crews, and in different parts of the world.” Sabo began.

Lucy’s smile was so bright that it stole Ace’s breath away for a moment. “But after this, no matter what, we’ll always have our treasured bond.”

“So it’s settled then?” Ace asked though he knew neither of his friends would back out.

“From today we’re each other’s Family!” They all said as they downed the drink in one go. Ace saw Lucy’s face set in a grimace and laughed.

“We’ll always be with each other, right? Never leave each other alone? Promise?” She questioned them again and again right after.

The two boys laughed and promised her that she would never be alone again, no matter how far apart they were. Lucy launched herself at them. “And I promise that you’ll always be a part of me too! As long as we have each other, none of us will ever be alone, forever!”

“Yeah, you’ll always be a part of me too, Lu, Sabo.” Ace said as he pulled away and touched his mark.

Sabo grinned. “I might not share your marks, but you both are a part of me as well, and it’ll stay that way for all eternity.” He vowed as though daring the gods to try and break it. Contrary to that, fate and magic took that oath and bound them together as their joined hands glowed golden and the three stared at it before a feeling of warmth, safety, love, and completion enveloped them. It wasn’t too long after the glow disappeared and the children came down from the euphoria that they noticed that they weren’t alone in their minds. The whispers and echoes of the other’s thoughts and feelings bled through though Lucy was the least affected.

“What… what just happened?” Ace asked, hands still refusing to let go of the other two, unwilling to lose that sense of belonging.

Lucy glanced at them uncertainly, head tilted to the side. “It’s like… like Ace’s voice and feelings got louder in my mind and Sabo… Sabo joined us.”

“If… if this is something that Lucy associates with the bond, it can’t be bad, right? And… and maybe we can just research it, after all, it could be because of what we just promised.” Sabo offered.

Lucy immediately brightened at that, the magic seemed to agree. “We can go see Makino-nee tomorrow. She has things from Mama that might help us.”

They all nodded and smiled at one another, for the first time feeling whole and accepted. And it wasn’t until Dadan came looking for them (for the bottle that Ace stole, really) that they separated and ran to the trees, laughing the whole way. Behind them, Dadan grumbled but her eyes were soft, she knew what ‘ceremony’ Ace had done with the brats and had been willing to give them _some_ time to themselves.

* * *

Sabo hadn’t been expecting to discover that Lucy’s mother was something of a witch (scratch that, she seemed to fit nearly every stereotype of a fairytale witch sans the ugly old green skinned warty hag part) when he had agreed to see Makino and the trunk she kept for Lucy. Though it did explain a lot about the things that happened around Lucy, from what he could see, the limits of _magic_ was (barring a few exceptions such as raising the dead) whatever your mind made up, it meant that as long as one was creative and imaginative enough, not to mention had a strong will and desire to shape it, (and depending on the magic you were doing because apparently there were some spells that could be on continuously without a drain to you and would continue on unless broken) enough energy; then you could pretty much do anything.

Apparently, anything meant accepting others into your bond as a lifemate. And if lifemate meant being able to feel that again, to carry his precious siblings with him wherever he went, then he had no problems with it. Although, for the sake of safety, maybe learning about magic to help Lucy control her own would be for the best. Sabo shuddered at the thought of the countless things that had exploded when Lucy lost her temper, which was thankfully a very rare occasion.

He glanced at the titles in the library within the trunk and yes, of course, a witch apparently had a bigger on the inside trunk that could shrink and grow to fit Lucy’s needs. He looked at the titles for potions and healing magic, there were books from technology to diplomacy and etiquette and so many more that Sabo felt like he could spend his entire life there and die a happy man. There was a basin to the side made of some kind of stone with etchings of weird symbols on it that had him scratching his head, especially with the vials filled with glowing silver threads.

He curbed his curiosity and grabbed a book that read _An Introduction to Magic and Magical Society._ It was authored and signed by a woman named _Hermione Weasley_ and there was a list of names that gave special thanks to a man named _Arthur Weasley_ and a woman named _Andromeda Tonks_ respectively. Sabo thought that there wasn’t any harm in reading the book and thought that it might even be helpful. With that in mind, Sabo walked out of the library to look for his siblings.

Greenhouse number four was where he found them. It was still immaculately well cared for and he had to blink at that. Maybe witches had the ability to preserve these things? To put things into stasis? Sabo grinned as Lucy ran away from a vine that swung at her. Maybe this place had a training ground for magic too? Could they use it? Ace was busy prodding a little bulbous plant when it suddenly exploded on him and covered him in some sticky and stinky substance.

Sabo and Lucy burst out laughing as Ace turned to them with a growl. “This isn’t funny!” He screamed.

“I saw a bathroom somewhere!” Lucy volunteered as she grabbed his hand and led them back down the halls. Sabo could tell his sister was literally shaking in excitement and as she opened the door, he blinked at the elegant bathroom that met him. It was something that was on par if not better than what he had in his old house.

There were sweet-smelling soaps and shampoos stocked up here and there and a few more that made Sabo leery of touching them. Feminine products were one thing but magical feminine products? Sleekeazy’s and other colorful bottles marked them, he didn’t even want to know what they did. Ace stripped in front of them, unashamed as he went into his first ever proper bath prepared for him by Lucy. That was when it occurred to Sabo that Ace didn’t have any clothes, well, at least, not any shirts. His shorts were untouched by the substance. Maybe Makino-san had something for him?

Sabo’s assumption was proven correct when Makino, who had been laying out a meal for them had giggled at the sight of Ace, shirtless and with dripping hair, before going to the back and returning with a boy’s shirt. “I figured something like this would happen. I remember when Lily-san first took me in there. It was all so magical and fantastic, I almost thought I was dreaming.” Makino explained as soon as Ace was sat down and properly clothed.

“Lily-san?” Ace asked, pausing for a bit in between bites.

Makino gave them a sad smile before looking at Lucy. “Lily Luna was Lucy’s mother.”

Ace and Sabo just shook their heads, as they turned to Lucy who had tuned out the rest of the conversation as soon as the meat had been presented to her. She glanced up at them with a grin as though she could feel their gaze on her and they smiled back on instinct. Sabo fingered the book again and was even more determined to help Lucy learn her magic, if only to help her connect more with her heritage.

“Lucy, have you been practicing what Shanks and the others have taught you?” Makino asked all of a sudden.

The little girl paused in her eating before bowing her head in shame. “No, I’ve been practicing my devil fruit powers and the pipe, like Ace and Sabo, have.” She admitted.

“Maybe they can practice with you?” Makino offered.

Sabo frowned, what did the pirates teach his little sister? And why haven’t they been practicing together? Sabo knew that Ace and Lucy were given books to learn from (and he’d happily allowed himself to be roped in, even if it meant reading marine standard handbooks) and would receive lessons from Makino and the Mayor whenever they made it to the village.

Makino continued on. “You know I’ll be writing to them, soon. Right? Is there anything you want to say?” She questioned.

Lucy grinned before shaking her head and demanding a paper and a pencil so that _she_ could write to Shanks. Makino just smiled and handed her a few sheets of paper and a box of crayons to color later on.

* * *

_Dear Captain,_

_I hope this letter finds you well. It’s been some months since you and your crew departed and as per your request, I’ve written to give you an update on our mutual niece’s life. As we predicted, her grandfather was furious at the realization that his granddaughter, who he meant to become an Honorable Marine’s Wife, if not a high ranking Marine herself, had been influenced into becoming the very thing that he hunted (not to mention the relation between the two of you), all the worse that she actually aspired to claim the title your captain held (and I do hope that he doesn’t try to throw cannons at your face). At the tail end of his vacation, he had taken her up to the mountains and to the sanctuary of the Bandits that reside there, leaving his own granddaughter there ‘to be raised into a fine, upstanding marine/marine’s wife’. How that man expects that to happen is still… confusing me._

_At the Bandit’s den, it turns out that my uncle had two other adopted ‘grandsons’ there. Both of whom have quickly claimed our niece as their ‘family’, much to everyone’s delight. And yours as well, I’m sure. Both boys as far as I can tell can match her in strength and appetite. For her part, she seems quite thrilled to finally have playmates her own age who could withstand her stray hits. There truly isn’t much to tell you, life in this village has been, as usual, thankfully and blissfully quiet while our niece grows stronger and lovelier every day._

_All the best,_

_Your Favorite Bartender_

_P.S. I included a letter from our niece and a few pictures of the children during their routine visit._

_P.P.S. I had forgotten to mention that our niece had found one of her mother’s journals and a particular passage in it had detailed a meeting that had happened between her and your Captain and First Mate where a familial tie was discovered between said first mate and your cousin. I would be grateful if you could verify this claim, I know our niece would adore the idea of more kin._

Akagami no Shanks smiled as he read through the letter that he had received from the lovely Makino. She was young but she held a depth and maturity that quite a lot of women lacked. His eyes widened at the final postscript as he turned to Benn, handing over the letter before barking out orders to turn to Sabaody.

His first mate shot him a look as he continued to read through it, smiling through the letter as well. “Smart woman, leaving out names and anything specific that could identify anyone in the letter.” Benn said approvingly before Shanks pointed to the bottom of the page.

Benn lifted a brow and turned back to his captain. “If this is true, then that girl may be more powerful than even we can guess.”

“Yes, and if this **is** true, then why did I never meet Lily?” Shanks asked with a groan before shaking his head and pulled out the letter his little Anchor wrote.

_Dir Uncle,_

_Big sis told me not to rite names so I wont. I hav made 2 new friends and we shared sake cups and promised itch oder that we would be family! We hav so much fun in the jungl. I miss u and everyone else. I want to see you all soon._

_I love you!_

_Futur Pirate King_

Shanks chuckled at the childish handwriting and misspelled words from the young girl. Though it was short, it touched him that she had taken the time and obvious effort to write to him. Below the ‘letter’ was a colorful yet crude drawing of stick figures. It was clear that his niece was no artist unlike Yasopp’s son, Usopp, that didn’t mean that Shanks wouldn’t treasure the letter though.

The pictures came next, the three little children, all grinning up at them. Something nagged at Shanks about the dark haired boy but he dismissed it as the obvious traits of a _D_. The blonde one grinned up at him, a tooth missing and the features were as aristocratic as Lucy’s. All three looked happy and healthy, skin flushed with the promise of youth.

* * *

Training with Lucy was… an adventure. They had made the rule that they were to have a hundred spars per day because Lucy’s aim when using her rubber powers was abysmal. Actually, her aim was abysmal in all aspects. From what Sabo had read, the magic that Lucy wielded was all about intent and focus and could be applied generally or on a specific target. The words or spells shaped the magic because it formed the idea in her mind. They had been trying to focus on her aim on inanimate objects though (for good reason).

The sounds of an explosion going off as Lucy _tried_ to make something levitate made Sabo flinch. So far, it was grasping the incantation of spells and shaping her magic to a specific ‘shape’ and target that had her stumped. The instinctive, creative magic and the accidental magic were all quite easy to grasp and control. They also had to alternate between practicing with pipes and a bit of the swordplay that she had been taught as a child. Sabo suspected that Lucy’s training in guns had been particularly awful because of her poor aim.

And of course, there was the physical and mental torture… er… training that their ‘grandpa’ would put them through. Sabo shuddered at the thought of the man, though he did like him, he still knew that the older man was insane. Yes, he doted on them, but his training had nearly killed them on several occasions within the first two days. It had come to a point where they had escaped and built their own little treehouse fort on the tallest tree in the mountain.

The magical trunk was particularly useful for them to have the more modern conveniences of life. A shower, a toilet, a kitchen, everything! An entire sanctuary. They used the trunk’s rooms on days when it rained so much or when the winter chill set in. They would open the trunk and let the heat from the fireplace fill their small little fort. A small bookshelf was pressed to one wall beside the three study tables they’d built in for the coursework Makino assigned for them.

A small harp and a sheet music stand stood to one side of the room, ready for Lucy to practice on for the small festivals within the town, and on Ace’s darkest nights, to lull him to sleep. Sabo smiled, thoroughly content in his life, as he fingered the quilt that Lucy and Makino had made for each of the two boys as a welcome to the family gift, kept the heat trapped when it was time to sleep and the three of them always slept entwined with each other. He peered across the field where Ace was berating Lucy for her lack of focus, a book in his hand.

The past two years had been fun and fulfilling, the feel of his lifemates’ emotions washing over him, love and warmth, safety. The whispers of their thoughts flitting through into his mind to talk to him when they weren’t within sight or hearing. He looked up at their treehouse where their flag waved proudly in the air and remembered Old Man Niguri and the ship they helped him build.

That had actually led the trio into more than just thievery but to scavenging and fixing things. Of course, Lucy didn’t always give them scavenged gifts. There was the simple silver chain with a pendant that had a small crystal on one side and their initials (and the crowned spade) on the other. It was a memory crystal, and every night, Ace and Lucy poured their emotions and memories into it so that Sabo would always have them with him. He didn’t have their soulmark, but it was the next best thing. And the journal they had gotten him, reminiscent of their promise to set sail and try for their dreams.

For Ace, it had been a picture that Lucy had found of Portgas D. Rouge who had apparently been one of Lily’s close friends. Garp had confirmed it for them before Lucy had given it to Ace and he knew that it was the first glimpse that Ace had ever had of his mother. The picture was always stored in the drawer of Ace’s desk whenever he wasn’t studying. It appeared as though his mother was Ace’s motivation.

“Alright, I think that’s enough for today! It’s time to hunt or we’ll starve tonight!” Sabo said, effectively ending Ace’s tirade.

* * *

Ace felt the dread coming down on him as his world burned. _‘Sabo!’_ He called out. _‘Help!’_ And far away, he swore he could hear the frantic cries of his brother, his lifemate as his other half was being held up by Blujam’s minion. The smoke was making his lungs burn and his eyes water but he glared at them.

“LET HER GO!!!” Ace screamed as something fierce and oppressive was unleashed and Lucy fell to the ground. The others looked confused but Lucy merely turned to stare at Ace in shock and understanding. Ace threw a desperate look at Lucy who scrambled to her feet and moved beside him as a gun was pointed at them. The furious roar of a woman could be heard as the bullet was deflected by an ax that had been brought mere inches from Ace’s face.

“Who the hell are you?” Blujam snarled.

“I’m the woman entrusted with their care. I suppose that makes me their mother, so don’t you dare touch my kids!” Dadan said standing tall.

Ace shoved Lucy into one of the bandit’s hands, he wasn’t sure which because he kept his eye on the pirate, before charging at him while the rest of the bandits retreated with a struggling Lucy screaming for Ace and Dadan to follow them. Ace wasn’t about to back out, not when Blujam, whose madness was steadily growing, would follow them and try to hurt Lucy again. The fight was ferocious as the other pirates began to wake up, he and Dadan had to trade opponents more than once and when the fighting had ended and the fire began to claim the bodies of the pirates, a path was formed out for them, A man stood addressing the crowd of desperate citizens within the burning trash heap before they all ran to their freedom there. The cloaked figure had his attention on them, Ace could just feel it and he felt Dadan shift and look back at the figure as if acknowledging him, a path was suddenly carved for them that led straight into the forest.

It was around lunch time when Ace, for all his injuries, had felt a sharp pain erupt in his head and he stumbled as he momentarily forgot to breathe, it felt as though something had just ripped his heart out but he kept on, attributing the pain to his other injuries but the fear and desperation that had come in that moments, the whispered voice of his brother _‘Ace, Lucy, help me’_ made him think otherwise. He called out to Sabo mentally but didn’t receive a reply and he had no time to stop and assess the bond since the smell of their blood had begun to draw the animals to them and he knew that neither he nor Dadan had the ability to fight them off right now.

He relaxed when he caught sight of the hideout and saw everyone rushing out only to freeze at the sight of them. Lucy stared at them from the door, face pale but relieved and she threw herself at him the moment Dadan had been whisked away to be treated. “I thought you were…” She cried.

Ace removed himself from her grasp. “Tch, it’ll take more than that to kill me.”

“Ace… something’s wrong with Sabo.” She said as she latched back onto him, head buried on his shoulder.

Ace patted her back. “We’ll check up on him later after we’ve eaten and gotten my wounds treated.” He assured her.

While everyone was celebrating Ace and Dadan’s return, Dogra came in looking shellshocked. “Sabo… he’s… Sabo’s dead.” He choked out and all at once silence fell.

“You… you’re lying.” Ace accused as he frantically called his brother through the bond. Dogra shook his head and explained everything.

When all of Ace and Lucy’s frantic calling was met with silence and a test of their bond showed nothing but broken threads, their composure shattered. Ace roared with anger and grabbed a pipe only to be grabbed by Dadan and tied to a tree while Lucy screamed and cried, calling for Sabo. Ace spent the next three days screaming curses at the world and telling Lucy to stop crying, their emotions so entwined with one another that it kept reverberating and amplifying and all the while the two hadn’t noticed the one small thread that stubbornly clung to life, a thread that connected them to Sabo.

* * *

Dragon held the little boy in his arms, the child was covered in burns and fading. He threw a look of disgust at the people celebrating the arrival of the World Noble completely ignoring the fact that he had shot and in their eyes, murdered a child. He recognized the boy, of course, he did. How could he not? This was the boy who’d cried to him, told him of the shame he felt in his nobility, had inadvertently saved countless lives during the fire. And the boy was barely older than his daughter.

His daughter… when Dragon had heard that a World Noble was going to be visiting the Goa Kingdom, he’d jumped at the chance to see his daughter in person for the first time since he’d given her to his father. He wanted to see Lily’s girl, see whether the pictures truly did justice to her, if she really did look like her mother. And then he’d seen her with that little boy, with _Ace_ and he knew that it was the same person whose name had been written on her arm from the moment she took her first breath… and Dragon knew in that moment that his daughter would be alright so long as that boy remained by her side.

And that boy, he’d seen him fight off those pirates, seen how he’d defended Lucy, how he and Dadan had held them off to allow the bandits to escape. And yes, while he knew his old friend wouldn’t really let those children come to harm, he still doubted his father’s sanity and wisdom at leaving two impressionable children under the care of Bandits, the Bandit Queen no less (not that his father knew that last bit). Still, she obviously cared for them, and the children looked healthy (if one discounted the injuries from this particular… _debacle_ ).

* * *

A week later saw Ace on the cliff, watching Lucy lying listlessly, face down on the ground, shoulders shaking as she tried to muffle her cries. “You have to start eating again, this isn’t healthy.” He said as he approached her. Sabo’s last letter to him was safely tucked away in his pocket but the letter for Lucy remained unopened in his hand.

“Ace, don’t die.” Lucy whimpered as he walked up to her.

“Me? I’d be more worried about you. You’re such a weak crybaby. Besides, I’m not going to die, I can’t leave you alone now, can I?” He promised her.

Lucy looked up at him and hesitantly reached a hand out to him. “I wanna grow stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger so that I never lose anyone again.” She said.

“I understand.” Ace began. “Sabo was planning to set sail when he was seventeen, so why don’t we do that? Let’s set sail at seventeen and live our life with no regrets.”

“It’s a promise.”

Ace led her away from the cliff and back into the bandit’s hideout. “Sabo sent us each a letter before he… I’ll give you your letter once you’ve eaten something.” He said, showing her the envelope.

* * *

He woke to the murmur of voices, the beeping of machines, and to the feeling of pain and emptiness. Turning his head to one side as the voices halted, he stared at them in confusion as they asked him questions and he thought them through, the cold realization that he didn’t know anything… _not even his own name_ had halted him. They gave him a name though, one that was written in the things he’d been found with… _Sabo_ , and it felt right.

When they offered to take him back, the feel of oppression, of being caged, of self-hatred returned, as well as the need to run away and protect so he vehemently denied it, begged not to return to that island and all the while the ache of a quiet mind ( _and why did that hurt? His mind should be quiet, right? Right?_ ) had left him feeling lonely. The name Dragon meant something as well, something tugging just there, in the back of his mind, something that he needed to know… but what? Dark hair and eyes flashed in his mind along with a sunshine smile before it disappeared and he desperately tried to grasp it. But like water slipping through your fingers, the image and those that followed disappeared in rapid succession until he was left with nothing.

They gave him a purpose though, and for now, that would be enough. So he studied and he trained, he grew stronger, took on responsibilities and befriended his partners. Although his female partner, Koala, often left him confused. Her violent behaviour when he’d given her fresh meat to apologize ( _because apparently, you don’t give girls freshly hunted meat to say sorry for destroying their favorite dress_ ), her anger when he’d called a woman a manly old hag ( _‘you’re not supposed to talk to women like that!’_ ), how shocked she’d been when he used the dirtiest insults in the most creative ways ( _how do you know what those things are? I know you’ve been here for years but none of the people even talk like that?!? Weren’t you supposed to be a noble?_ Followed by cheeks stretched beyond normal limits)… and so much more. For some reason, what he knew of women, or the female species seemed to be different from his partner’s (and by extension every single woman on the planet) expectations. Reality was… harsh, especially with Koala as his teacher in all things concerning the female species.

Oh, he could charm them, and he did. He could talk them into circles, these things came naturally to him. It showed his noble upbringing, but the rest… well… he seemed to have been a bit of a wild child, a maverick. And quite resourceful too, he’d discovered skills in carpentry, scavenging, general banditry, cons, cooking, needlepoint, and the art of making natural remedies. Things no noble would ever dare to learn. It had come in useful a good number of times so he was never really that bothered about it. That didn’t mean it didn’t irk Koala a lot when he showed a new skill that he didn’t even know he had.

Still, the mystery of his past clung to him and even as he discarded so many items that he’d once used, there were three that always remained with him; his top hat, his goggles, and the pendant with a crowned spade on it. The last one was the one he’d clung to the hardest as if the very thought of losing it meant death. And every time he saw a dark-haired child, boy or girl, he would find himself taking a second look as if expecting something, even though he didn’t know what he was looking for. But whatever it was, his pendant definitely had something to do with it.

* * *

Lucy watched as Ace sailed away on a small fisherman’s boat that he’d gotten by way of trading furs to a fisherman in Edge town. The man was old and had been planning on retiring anyway, and the furs were definitely a necessity when winter came around. Her eyes remained fixed on his back until he disappeared and then, felt alone for the first time in years. The villagers had already dispersed but the bandits remained by her side and she knew that they felt his loss just as much, these were the people that had raised Ace, after all, had been with him since he was an infant and had seen him through over sixteen years of his life.

Everyone pretended not to notice Dadan’s tears or her sniffles as she stood to the side and Makino’s calming voice trying to soothe her. Mayor Woop Slap’s grumbling of ‘criminals’ and ‘bringing shame to the village’ was ignored as well as he shook his head and placed a comforting hand on Lucy’s shoulder and gently turned her away. Mayor Woop Slap had been the elder brother of Lucy’s Grandmother and of Makino’s mother, and as such, was one of the few that knew about the soulmarks. In this sense, Lucy knew, that her great-uncle would refuse to leave her alone, not tonight.

She reached out through her bond and felt Ace’s respond, a flare of warmth washed over her and she sent back her own feelings. Three years, three years then she’d begin her journey. _‘We await you, Little D. what a storm you will bring.’_ The wind seemed to whisper to her and for just one moment a weight seemed to settle on her, expectant and heavy with the future adventures to come. _‘Watch over him, Sabo.’_ She thought as she turned away from the sea.

* * *

Sabo paused in his steps as a sudden shift of air blew through the tunnel. _‘Watch over him, Sabo.’_ A soft feminine voice whispered. He turned his head back in the direction the voice came from but didn’t find anyone.

“What’s wrong, Sabo-kun?” Koala asked, shifting slightly, body ready to drop into a fighting stance but not quite yet.

Sabo shook his head and gave her a smile. “Nothing, I just thought I heard someone call my name.” He answered easily enough and walked ahead of them. _Watch over who?_ Sabo though but shook it out of his mind, there were three hundred people who needed their help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's almost time for Lucy to set sail! I know it may seem kinda rushed to everyone but if I wrote every single adventure they had growing up, we'd never be able to leave Dawn Island. And yes, the separation is still necessary. Sorry. Don't fret though, I have a series of little one and two shots that I've already planned out that shows their childhood as well as the interactions of the other characters like Shanks and Makino through a decade of letters and sporadic phone calls; lessons Lucy learned from her foster mother Dadan about the importance of a good network (inspired by Ch. 16 of Ace Lives where Dadan is the bandit queen); and even one about how Banchina survives. It was kind of a tossup but I decided that the East Blue Strawhats will have met Lucy before she even started sailing through various circumstances and would in turn, make them slightly stronger then in Canon cause Lucy knows haki and she's gonna drill that into their skulls, not that it'll be really effective and continuous since they didn't have the determination and guilt powering them like they did in 3D2Y. Tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three years go by and Lucy is finally ready to sail! We're also introduced to the East Blue Strawhats!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a filler chapter of sorts and there are quite a lot of time skips.

The first person Ace recruits for his crew happened while he was stranded on a deserted island, coincidentally the same island where his future first mate was stranded in. The man had been rude, suspicious, and was another one who hated his _father_ and of course with Ace’s luck, he was able to figure out that he was Roger’s son. Admittedly, asking the ‘hypothetical’ question of ‘what would you say…?’ to a completely sober man might have helped a lot. Still, it was just the two of them and he was the one with the rations so Ace tried to be the bigger man and left a few foodstuffs lying around on purpose so the other man wouldn’t starve. Seriously, how was this his life? Within two weeks of leaving the Dawn Island and his other, he gets trapped in a freaking deserted island. He tried to keep it from Lucy but he knows by the amused and worried prodding she sends him so he calms her down. _‘Relax Lu, I’m fine. I’ll get out of here soon.’_

_‘Are you sure? I could…’_

_‘No, you’re not setting sail till your 17. I’m not going to make you break your promise.’_

_‘Fine.’_

Repairing the ship is slow going and the food runs out on the third day. Probably because he’s not as good at rationing than he once thought. Also, there is a severe lack of wildlife on the island, no edible plants or animals to hunt and the marine life seem to steer clear away from the island. And it’s only when he’s run out of food that he finds it. It, being a weird flaming apple of some sort. It’s the last thing he’ll have to eat if he doesn’t make it off this island and he really wants to eat it all but the other man is still here and he needs it just as much so he turns to the man when he feels him approaching.

“This is the last thing we have, do you wanna split it with me?” He asked showing the apple.

The man blinked and nodded and the apple is cut but they both eye it warily. Ace is so hungry that he stops even caring and takes a bite, the other man follows and they’re both gagging and trying not to waste it so they swallow immediately. The taste of bitter ashes and trash still lingers on his tongue.

“By the seas! What was that?” The stranger asked.

Ace coughed and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “I don’t know but it was horrible.” He gave a few more coughs when the man gives a startled yelp.

“What?” Ace asked as he turns to the man.

“You…uh… you’re burning.” The man said, pointing to his shoulder. Ace blinked before yelping as well, hands going down to try and pat it away.

The fire spreads to his hand and he runs around a bit before jumping into the water. Ace suddenly knew something else was wrong as he was immobilized and began to feel tired. Ace woke up gasping, the memory of drowning, helpless and Lu’s frantic calls and fear reverberating through him and fueling his own jolts him as he immediately reassures her again. The worry is there but she’s keeping quiet.

The man was seething. “What do you think you’re doing sailing alone when you can’t even swim!”

“I can swim!”

“Oh, so you just decided to take a nap in the water and drown yourself!”

“No, I don’t know why but something paralyzed me, something…” Ace trailed off as everything clicked in his mind.

“FUCK!” Ace screamed. “It was a devil fruit.”

“A devil fruit?” The man asked. Ace needed to vent because he loves the sea and now it’s his greatest weakness so he launches into a full explanation complete with expletives as he cursed his lot in life. Lu’s sympathetic but highly amused and smug, Ace knew it was because he’s given her so much grief about not being able to swim through the years.

And later, long after the two of them have taken refuge inside his mostly repaired ship, Ace finally gots to introduce himself. “I’m Portgas D. Ace, by the way. I apologize for not introducing myself before.”

The man hesitated and raised a brow at his name. “I… I’m…”

“You don’t wanna give your name?”

“It’s not that. When I left home, my father told me not to use it anymore, so that I don’t bring shame to _his_ name.”

And Ace understood in a way. He no longer has that burning hatred for Gold Roger, not when Lu’s in the same boat but still remains positive and loving. He can’t call himself a devil’s child because that would be insulting her as well and for Ace who’s only saving light is his other, the very thought of calling her such a thing sickens him. So he commiserates with the man who knows who he is and they talk about their lives, he learns about the man’s time in medical school and Ace tells him about Lucy.

Between the two of them, Ace’s fishing sloop is repaired by the end of the next day and they’re out at sea, fishing and soon enough Ace gets tired of addressing him as ‘hey you’ and tells him to pick a name. Three days since their truce on the island and the Spade Pirates are born as his companion turns to him with a grin. “Call me Deuce, it means the number two right, Captain?”

Ace grinned back. “Sure thing, First Mate.”

They picked up a few more people on the way. Some under comical circumstances, others are more dire. Still, by the time they reach Logue Town they already have Skull, Mihar, Saber, Kotetsu, Pinnacle, Cornelia, and Banshee. Ace leaves his crew to wander around, he goes to see the town where his father’s life began and ended, hands tracing the stone walls as he walks this way and that. Deuce, he knows, understands what this means to him and he trusts his first mate to keep watch over the others.

* * *

Lucy meets her first Nakama after Ace makes it to Paradise (though really, Usopp is the first. In Lucy’s mind she remembers a long-nosed boy screaming about pirates, the feel of the wind from the deck of her uncle’s ship, strong arms carrying her, helping her hold the wheel steady, a woman kind and ill. Yasopp panicking and Doc’s quiet soothing tones as he treats the man’s wife). The first one she meets is a swordsman named Roronoa Zoro who had washed up on shore thoroughly lost. Lucy finds him as she’s collecting some more herbs for her dinner. He’s soaking wet and sleeping on the beach and she listens to the whispers that tell her to _trust_ the man so she hoists the man on her shoulder and heads to the tree house. She sets him by the large rock that Sabo used to rest on quite often and goes hunting, only returning after she’s caught two crocodiles.

The man is still sleeping so she skins and prepares the meat for roasting. He finally wakes up when she’s halfway through eating the first crocodile and he bolts up, hands going to his swords instantly but she throws him a small (miniscule by her family’s standards) portion of meat with a grin and turns her attention back to her meal. When the bones are picked clean of any possible meat she turns her attention back to the green-haired swordsman.

“Hi, I’m Lucy!” She said happy to finally be able to talk to someone her own age about something other than fishing, farming, or windmill maintenance.

The man glared at her first but she didn’t let it affect her, really, Gramps’ pet tiger lord, old as it may be, had a scarier look in his eyes. “Roronoa Zoro.” The man said after a moment.

“What’s your dream, Zoro?” Because she had to see it, had to know his dream and his determination before she asked him to join her.

“To be the greatest swordsman in the world.” He said, serious and proud. The whispers of a child’s voice, high and girlish, making the same promise, sleeping but always there, waiting and watching, protecting her friend and it was coming from one of his swords and there was the weight of history in it as well. Lucy knows then that she needs him in her crew, she can already see it, the Pirate King and the World’s Greatest Swordsman.

“I’m going to be the Pirate King.” She declared proudly. “I’m going to set sail when I turn seventeen and I want you to join me.”

“I’m a ‘bounty hunter’. Why would I join a pirate? Besides, you might just hold me back.”

Lucy cocked her head to the side, gaze narrowing on the sword thoughtfully before an idea formed in her mind. She’s no real swordswoman, not to his skill or level but she learned how to wield a blade from the two greatest swordsmen of the time. And she had the benefit of haki. Mind made up, she stands and turns to look at the man she’s decided would become her first mate. “If I can beat you in a sword fight, would you become my first mate?”

“If you can beat me, then yes.” The man said, cocky and sure.

Lucy climbed the ladder and grabbed her sword, before she jumped down with a smile. She led him away to the training grounds and the two of them spar. It’s clear that Zoro is better at the more technical aspects of swordplay but raw strength, her speed, and haki wins the day as two of Zoro’s swords shatter and the forest went silent and still. Zoro looked at her, eyes heavy with something and he smiled. “I guess I should start calling you Captain.”

She smiled back at him and hugs him before an idea forms in her mind. Zoro is good but he’s not great, at least, not yet. He has the potential to be but he’s not to the level where he can cut an island in half, let alone a Galleon or even a cannonball and certainly not enough to face either of her uncles whose duels are quite legendary. “Will you train me, Zoro? For a while before you set out on your journey?” And she’ll find him, she knows she will, the voices had led her to him once, it would do so again.

“Of course, Captain.” And Lucy grinned as well, her mind already on ways to try and introduce (beat) Haki into him.

* * *

Sabo had just returned from a mission when an East Blue Rookie’s bounty was released. Fire Fist Ace had nagged something in his mind, desperate and longing, even before he’d seen the picture but he’s had that so many times that he shoved it aside and turns to Hack to take over training the recruits. He shrugs off the smug smile that Sabo knows he’s imagined seeing on his boss’ face because the Revolutionary Dragon does not smile. Sabo’s hand went to the chain around his neck as he tries not to think of Fire Fist Ace’s jolly roger and its possible connection to the symbol on his pendant but his mind persisted and in the end, he pushed the recruits to near breaking to get his mind off of it.

* * *

Dragon smirked in the privacy of his office as he glanced at Fire Fist Ace’s bounty poster once more. His son-in-law has followed in his father’s footsteps and had he been a different man, he would’ve called his father to gloat about the fact that he had successfully raised two men to become notorious outlaws. He knew his father was probably getting an earful from his godparents and he could already see the frustrated sighs from Sengoku and Tsuru as his father unleashed hell on the recruits and probably destroyed quite a few structures on Marineford. Yes, Dragon was very proud of his son-in-law.

* * *

Marineford was filled with the pained shrieks and terrified yells of recruits for four straight days after Fire Fist’s bounty came out and aside from a few broken walls, the damage done to the overall infrastructure of Marineford was minimal so Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru let their friend be, choosing the lesser of two evils. Besides, the new recruits would have a better edge than most of their counterparts after this session (the three Admirals were proof of that, they’d been those who lasted after Admiral Monkey D. Dragon defected). Still, a sense of disappointment had hit them, they’d been eager to see whether or not Garp was able to train the pirate out of the boy and they wanted to finally meet the child, this was followed by a sense of foreboding because where that boy went, so too did little Lucy. Though they’d had the feeling that this was the direction it would take after hearing about the death of Garp’s other grandson at the hands of a World Noble, and the fact that the children had witnessed such a thing, and known that the Marines had done nothing… no, they had suspected that it would come to this.

* * *

Lucy meets her future Navigator when she seeks refuge on Dawn Island during a storm. The orange haired girl named Nami dragged her dinghy on to the beach and ran into Lucy who’s just brought some meat for Makino. Lucy felt the same weighted feeling she had when she met Zoro as if the world was waiting with bated breath for the two of them to interact so she goes up to the girl and invites her over to the bar.

She and her aunt were planning on having a night in making cookies and care packages for her grandpa and the other marines she considers as family. She may hate the institution but that didn’t mean she hated everyone in it. It was like how she wanted to be a good pirate but knew that there were a lot of pirates who were evil. Nami immediately shut her out when she said that she wanted to be the Pirate King and Lucy could just feel the resentment and anger, the trauma that the very word Pirate caused her but Lucy didn’t want to know, not unless the other girl told her herself so she shut those parts of herself out and opened her bond to Ace wider, slightly concerned because Ace was angry and tired and confused but he wouldn’t tell her anything.

“Pirates are evil, all they do is take and take until there’s nothing left. I’ll never be one of them!” Nami said through gritted teeth.

Lucy looked at her sadly. “Okay, I won’t ask you for now. I’ll ask you again when I set sail. Can we still be friends?” She asked.

Nami paused and sighed before nodding. Lucy smiled and handed her a cookie while Makino smiled at them and patted Lucy’s head. The rest of the evening passed by quickly and soon Nami and Lucy were sharing the small bed and talking in the night.

“So why are you out at sea?” Lucy asked the other girl.

“I’m stealing money, I want to reach 100,000,000 belli.” Nami told her but didn’t explain _why_ she wanted the money. Lucy didn’t need to know though, she just knew that it was important.

Lucy ‘hmmed’ as she thought of the small stash she’d had away from her pirate fund, her mother’s money, and her allowance. There was at least 2,000,000 there scavenged and earned and if she took Nami to Grey terminal she could get some more. With that thought in mind, she went to sleep, unmindful of the howling wind and the lightning that streaked across the sky.

She took Nami to Grey terminal the next day and helped her find the valuable and expensive things her friend could pawn off outside of the island. The Nobles were disgusting in that they threw away even expensive jewelry just because a clasp broke or something, they threw wealth around while the rest of the population struggled. Nami wrinkled her nose at the smell but Lucy shrugged it off, she’d been going there for eight years after all.

Of course, there were quite a few that had picked a fight with them just because they were girls. Some were familiar faces from a time when Ace had still been there. She and Nami just shrugged and beat the crap out of them though Nami had been shocked when she had seen her arm turn black or dodge all of the bullets that had been shot at her. Lucy grinned knowing she’d picked her friend’s interest, she already knew her friend had the potential for armament given the painful hit she’d inflicted on her earlier in the morning when she had stolen food from her plate.

Nami ended up staying a week on Dawn Island and it had been the most physically painful one that she’d ever endured but she felt like it was worth it. Her scavenging had turned up an estimated 400,000 bellis worth of jewelry. And before she set sail, Lucy had handed her a large box.

“I don’t know why you need it, I just know you do. So here.” She said as she thrust the heavy object towards her. “I’ll find you again, Nami and I’ll convince you to join me.”

“I’ll see you again, Lucy but I doubt I’ll agree to join you.” Nami told her before taking off. Lucy grinned as she watched her second (third?) Nakama sail away. Soon it would be her turn.

* * *

Ace growled as he sat by the railings of the Moby Dick. Day 62 of his assassination attempts had ended in another failure. He didn’t hate Roger, not as he once did, not after reading about him in Lily’s journals, not after reading _his_ mother’s journals, nor after meeting the Pirate Emperor of Parties who had saved the life of his other half, and definitely not after all those times Lu had turned to him with a bright smile and some exclamation about how she was thankful to Roger because Ace was born as Ace. He was apathetic at worst and distantly respectful of his father’s achievements at best.

But it still didn’t change the fact that he wanted to step out of his father’s shadow. Killing Whitebeard would do that. He thought of Shanks and how he’d laughed when he had told the man about his desire to go against Whitebeard, it hadn’t been cruel, it was more like it had been fond and reminiscent. His father, Gramps, and Whitebeard had all belonged to the age that preceded the Golden Age of Piracy after all and that meant that they’d fought each other often enough and the red-haired Captain had certainly remembered it.

“When are you going to decide?” Marco asked as he approached Ace.

Ace lifted his head, Lu’s bright presence in the back of his mind was soothing because she was just so _happy_ right now. He could hear her thoughts, three potential crew member, oh who was he kidding? The two boys were already practically signed up even if her Sniper still hadn’t known that she would return to ask him soon and the girl… well, this Nami would give in sooner or later. But Ace forced himself to focus on the man in front of him.

“Are you going to accept Pop’s offer or are you going to go down and start all over?” Marco continued. Ace was tempted, so tempted to just leave, his ship was still there and his crew… most of them would follow, if not all of them, they’d been through too much not to. But something made him stay, that burning curiosity and that desire he didn’t even know he had.

“Why do you call him Pops?” Ace asked, giving in. Lu’s presence stilled as if she was waiting for an answer too.

“Because he’s the father we chose and we’re the children he claimed. To him, we’re all children of the sea and we are his, no matter where we began.” Marco said, honest and serious.

Ace buried his head again and reached back into the comforts of the bond. Lu was supportive and loving and so understanding that he found stable ground again. A father, one who’d known the man that his sire was. Gramps had tried but he was a marine first and no matter how much he tried to convince him that Roger wasn’t all bad, that his existence was a good thing, he was still biased against a pirate. But Lu was different, she adored his father’s cabin boy who was also her uncle and had been told of the good and bad that came with Roger, she didn’t worship the man, not really, but she respected him and was grateful for his part in Ace’s existence. Her unconditional love and acceptance had been what had gotten him through all these years.

He stayed there, staring at the night sky and listening to the waves as he remembered the sound of the harp as Lucy practiced for the festivals and drew comfort from that, his mind already made up. And when the crew had gone to bed he stood up and approached Whitebeard’s room. He had no weapons that night and no will to attack. After being admitted in, he found himself sitting at the foot of the bed as he looked up at the giant of a man, his heart pounding.

“I have something to tell you.” Ace began and suddenly a rush of warmth enveloped him as Lu sent whatever support and courage she could. “My father is Gold Roger.”

Whitebeard stared at him, a brow raised before he began to laugh. “I thought you had something important to tell me, brat. It doesn’t matter to me who your father is, we’re all children of the sea.” And it had been those exact words that Marco had said earlier, had used to explain what it meant. Unconditional acceptance no matter where you came from. “What do you know about the man your father was?”

“Not much really.” Ace admitted because everything he knew, they were through the eyes of an old marine, a former apprentice who had looked up to the man and may have been blind to his faults, the second-hand accounts of a little girl who probably got the watered down versions of the events, and his mother’s and Lily’s journal had spoken of events in two different ways; one was through the eyes of a lover and the other was through the eyes of an ally of sorts.

Whitebeard smiled and told him of his encounters with the legendary Pirate King, the drinking competitions against Garp and Roger when the three tired of fighting against one another or the days when there would be a three-way fight between Whitebeard, Roger, and Shiki. At the end of the night as the sun began to rise Whitebeard finished his latest tale and looked at Ace. “Are you willing to take mark now?”

“Yes.” And Whitebeard gave him a large and warm smile.

“Welcome to the family, my son.”

Later that day as he approached Whitebeard, a knife in one hand and an apple in the other. Everyone ignored him, until… “Good morning, Pops.”

Everyone froze, even as Whitebeard laughed. “Good morning, Son.”

* * *

Shanks looked at the bounty of his Captain’s son as it raised after the news broke that he’d joined the Whitebeard pirates. “Rogue-san, Captain, you’d be proud of him.” He whispered as his mind drifted to the little girl he’d left behind in the East Blue and the lovely bartender who’d written to him through the years. The stack of letters and the photos by his bed a testament to the family that he’d had in the calmest of the Blue Seas. And he thought of how it all began for him, the East Blue was where his Captain and Rayleigh were from, where he and Buggy had been born, where their journeys as Pirates and Pirate Captains began.

* * *

Rayleigh looked at the smiling image of the boy on the poster. He’d know that smile anywhere, The face of his best friend and captain was hidden behind his lover’s smile and freckles. His godson had grown and made his own choice just as his friends had wanted and affection filled him even as he knew that the boy had no determination or will to become his father’s successor for the title of Pirate King. No, that belonged to Lily’s girl, the D. who had inherited his Captain’s hat and Ace’s apparent soulmate. It made so much sense because in a way those two would have been raised together had all of their parents lived, the friendship between their mothers, the ties between Lily, Shanks, and Rayleigh himself would have bound them. Either way, one of them would have ended up as the Pirate King and the other would have ended up as the consort. It seemed the latter role would be Ace’s title.

* * *

“Usopp, time for dinner.” The sweet voice called out to him as Usopp put his slingshot down and removed his blindfold, the newly formed Usopp Pirates clapping along as he laughed and looked at the targets that he’d hit. He would show his dad that he was a brave warrior of the sea and that he’d taken his lessons to heart.

“Coming, Mom!” He called out before waving his younger friends away. The villagers all grumbling under his breath as he passed but they all gave him a smile, his usual Pirate calling routine had proven to be effective drills for the villagers on more than one occasion whenever tragedy struck such as when a fire had struck the village and burnt down half of the buildings.

He threw one look at the mansion as he passed by, Lady Kaya had been so sad lately and his mother had taken to delivering sweets to her and making him come as well to cheer her up. He was already planning on sneaking in and telling her stories again. He knew what she was going through, those dark days when his mother had been near death and his father was who knows where and he’d been so afraid that he would be left alone until that one day when he ran across the village screaming about pirates and had seen the ship approach, his father on board and his Captain standing on the deck with a little girl on his shoulders and just like that, everything was right in the world as his father arrived with a seasoned Doctor from the Grandline.

The little girl who he had later discovered was the niece of his father’s Captain was the reason they were there. She’d been on a small trip out of her island with the crew trying to teach her to sail when she had pestered them because she had wanted to meet Usopp. That had been what had saved his mother, the Captain who so easily bent to his beloved niece’s whims and the crew who loved the bright little girl so much that they agreed with whatever she wanted so long as it didn’t endanger her. And it was through her that he had discovered how much his father had talked about him, how much his father thought about them.

And as he spent time with his father and listened to his stories of the sea while his mother recovered, his heart was seized with the desire to see it all for himself. _‘Just wait dad. I’ll show you that I’m a brave warrior of the sea, too!’_ he thought as he closed his eyes and let his other senses guide him home. He was a sniper, he had to practice until the observation haki his father had spoken of was activated.

* * *

The last of the East Blue crew members that Lucy had met was her Chef. The Baratie had been floating within the vicinity of Dawn island, less than half a day away and with her 16th birthday so close both Mayor Woop Slap and Makino had decided to make a trip out of it. They’d dragged her down the mountain with promises of food and given that her grandfather had just left after trying to set her up with another marine, well, her hair was cut short and she’d practically sealed away all of her dresses to make herself look more boyish.

The young chef had flirted with Ma-chan who just laughed it off and Mayor Woop Slap grumbled about impropriety and harassment. Of course, this led to the chef insulting both Lucy and her Great Uncle. Lucy had no problem being called a shitty boy because his food was absolutely awesome, she got the same feeling she had from when she met Zoro and Nami, and it wouldn’t be the first time she’d been mistaken for a boy.

“Hey, what’s your name?” She asked.

“It’s Sanji, you little shit.”

“Sanji, I’m gonna be the Pirate King and I’ll set sail when I turn seventeen so join my crew!”

“No.”

“But why?” Lucy whined and pouted.

“My life is here and there’s no way I’ll follow an uncouth little savage like you!” And the insults began again while Lucy just pouted at him.

Sanji’s litany was stopped when the head chef arrived and kicked him on the head and sent him back to the kitchen. “So you wanna take the little eggplant away, eh?” The man asked.

Lucy nodded, her head cocked to the side as she listened to the whispers. _‘Almost son, my boy, raised you, so proud.’_ His thoughts and emotions practically screamed as he thought of Sanji.

The man snorted. “Good luck with that.” He said after a moment of studying her and nodded to himself before turning away.

Lucy beamed and took that to mean that Sanji’s papa had approved. She challenged Sanji too a small duel later on and used armament on him, much like Nami, he’d been intrigued enough to ask about it so she gave him a small demonstration and tried to teach him a bit before she had to return home. But she’d also seen how Chef Zeff had looked at her when he had seen her use haki.

“How did you know about haki?” Zeff demanded.

Lucy just shrugged. “A few pirates taught it to me.” Then she turned a bright smile to the older chef. “If you know what haki is then you can teach Sanji!”

She then turned to Sanji again. “I’ll come to find you once I set sail and I’ll ask you to join me then.” She promised him, a bright smile on her face as she ran to her relatives.

* * *

The chefs of the Baratie all stared in awe as Sanji cursed the girl. They’d never seen Sanji so callous and rude not to mention violent towards a girl. Usually, he’d be fawning over them, no matter how plain or boyish they looked. Pearl heard Head Chef Zeff snort then snicker as Sanji walked away.

“It seems like the Little Eggplant hasn’t realized that he was talking to a girl the whole time.” He said by way of explanation.

Everyone’s jaws dropped at the realization before they all began laughing. “Well if the girl really is serious about becoming a pirate and coming back for Sanji, it’ll be very interesting once he realizes how he’s treated the girl.” Pearl said.

“Do you think he’ll cry and grovel?” One of the new chefs asked with a snicker of his own. And it soon devolved into bets about Sanji and the girl’s next encounter

* * *

Ace didn’t know why but he felt like he’d just (temporarily) dodged a perverted bullet. He shivered at the thought and glared around suspiciously for anyone who looked like a pervert (and no, Thatch didn’t count), finding none he figured that it had something to do with Lucy and he grit his teeth because his idiotic other half wouldn’t recognize a pervert if it hit on her. So Ace took his anger out on the pirates they were fighting.

Within minutes the rival crew was all fleeing and he blinked in surprise. (Ace didn’t know that he looked like a real fire demon with his lips set into a ferocious snarl, the malicious look in his eyes, and the murderous aura that had surrounded him that had been manifested by his flames). Thatch walked up to him with a laugh. “Wow, you really scared me for a minute, Ace.”

“Huh?”

Thatch just snickered but before he could say anything, Ace’s narcolepsy kicked in and his world went dark.

* * *

Sabo shivered as he felt the urge to beat someone to hell, he didn’t know why but it felt like he’d been in the presence of a pervert but had been passed up. A sense of foreboding also entered him as if he was going to be in the presence of the pervert again and quite frequently so Sabo focused on the Marines in front of him and began attacking with prejudice. When Koala finally arrived and gave him the ‘all clear’ she merely stared at him with a raised brow and Sabo realized that the man he’d been beating had already passed out (likely five minutes ago).

“Are you alright, Sabo-kun? You’re being very violent today.” Koala casually remarked.

Sabo scowled as he thought back to the feeling he had. “I felt like I was in the presence of a pervert.” He explained and promptly shut up.

* * *

Koala watched as her partner stood tense and alert. “I know you’ll probably hate this but… do me a favor and stay with the women. I don’t want to chance the pervert being around them or you. I know you can take care of yourself but please?” Sabo-kun asked with a strained smile.

Her partner rarely asked and always just did. In her opinion, his life’s motto was ‘it’s better to beg forgiveness later”. They’d been together long enough that she considered him a friend of sorts but there was always a barrier there and she knew it had more to do with his missing memory. The smile he gave her just now, it was the same one that he had whenever something from his past was just there, just buried underneath so she nodded and walked away from him. They were partners and watched each other’s back, they were comrades, but he was also her superior.

Their earlier years together had been a learning experience as she had to re-educate Sabo on what to expect from women and his eccentricities didn’t help. She so desperately wanted to put the blame on his life as a noble before this but… his skill set and mannerisms at times made him seem like he’d grown up in isolation being raised by criminals or wild beasts. His amnesia didn’t help that point, it was always there, on the tip of his tongue and she could always see how it was when he was _almost_ remembering something, had learned the tell and signs of it. Whatever his past was like, he knew a dark haired child had featured heavily in it, given his particular interest in children with dark hair, boy or girl, or alternately men and women with dark hair who were around their ages. He never looked twice at those older then they were.

* * *

There was a betting pool among the Whitebeard Pirates about their Second Division Commander’s sexual preferences or lack thereof. The man seemed to never notice the flirtations of the men and women he came across and when he did it was often to dark haired dark eyed women or blonde haired blue eyed men, though they often got nothing more than a second glance and when they did notice his attention and flirted, his face went red and he stammered before running away. Disturbingly enough, this extended to a preference for these same characteristics in children. The Commander was often seen in the company of dark-haired little girls with bright smiles or were crying, and violent little shits with smart mouths who had blonde hair and blue eyes.

So far, he hadn’t done anything indecent and all he did was to comfort them and play with them. And when asked all he would say was that they reminded him of someone special before launching into a story about his beloved and precious ‘Lu’. Ace’s little brother (well, Ace always called this Lu as his precious family member), was well known throughout the crew and it was an open secret among the Whitebeards and their allies that Ace had a huge brother complex.

Whenever the Second Division Spades (or the members of the Spade Pirates who all unanimously transferred to the Second Division after Ace became Commander) heard the words ‘brother complex’ they always snickered and shared secretive smiles. (They would never tell the others that Lu was a girl and that it had taken them a shameful six months to figure that fact out or that their former captain’s preferences tended to lean towards women who reminded him of _his_ Lu and yes, Banshee the ever romantic one had figured it out and won the bet). It took the Whitebeard Commanders and Captain over a year and a half to figure it out and even then it was helped along by a particular visit from Red-haired Shanks for Ace’s 20 th birthday.

* * *

_Marco groaned as soon as the Red Force was spotted. The party for Ace’s 20 th birthday and the celebration for the New Year was already going to be bad enough without adding the Party Emperor on top of it. Not to mention his tactics of recruitment included a particularly twisted version of a man’s way to woo a woman. Seriously, what messed up things did he pick up from Roger and Rayleigh that this was how he recruited people?_

_But Marco had to raise a brow as the damned Red-head merely gave him one barely passable and half-hearted attempt at ‘recruiting’ him. Instead, he focused his attention on the youngest commander who was celebrating his birthday. Marco bristled at that because there was no way he was going to let the bastard steal his Nakama! But he was forced to stop as he and probably everyone else was treated to a show of warm familiarity and easy acceptance between Ace and the red-haired nuisance, even with the older members of the nuisance’s crew._

_“Heya kiddo, I got a gift for you!” Shanks declared proudly._

_Benn Beckman immediately stepped in. “What he means is that his favorite bartender and Lu have a gift for you.”_

_“But I’m delivering it so it’s my gift!” Shanks whined._

_“Captain’s just saying that cause he used the money he allotted to buy your gift on sake.” Lucky Roo told them._

_“I did not!” Shanks denied._

_“Yes, you did!” Everyone on his crew said._

_Ace just laughed and held his hand out eagerly. Marco saw Ace’s confused frown when he was given a large shell. “It’s a tone dial, it records sounds. I don’t know how Anchor or my bartender was able to get a hold of not one but two tone dials but I have one too.”_

_Marco could see the way his brother’s eyes lit up. He turned it on very briefly but it was long enough for them to hear a few notes gently played on what sounded like a harp. “That was…” Ace trailed off._

_“It reminded you of home, right?” Shanks asked gently._

_Ace’s eyes were shining brightly. “I guess this was recorded before the festival.”_

_“I remember they always went all out for the winter festival, right?“ Benn asked._

_“Yeah. Food, booths, and a performance. There were always so many winter games that we would play and even the Bandits came down from the mountain to participate in the festival.”_

_And from there they devolved into talking about Ace’s home in the vaguest terms possible. Even Ace never mentioned his village or island’s name, nor what kingdom he was from. In a way, Marco could understand it. There were a lot of people on the ship who still had kin living back at home and they didn’t want to bring the World Government’s wrath down on to them by affiliating their island with a pirate… but this was to the extreme!_

_Long after the party was over and Ace had stumbled away back to his room, tone dial clutched tightly in his hands. And late that night and for an entire week, Ace would disappear and the sounds of beautiful melodies played on a harp and a gentle and high voice singing could be heard playing around the Commanders’ Hallway. It was at the end of the eighth day when they were having a meeting that Haruta finally gave in to his curiosity._

_“Ace, that nice music, who was playing it?” Haruta asked._

_Ace beamed, eyes shining with pride and devotion that they’d only seen when he spoke of Lu. Marco suddenly felt the pieces fit into place and before Ace even spoke he knew the answer. “Why, it was Lu, of course!” Ace said enthusiastically._

_“Huh, didn’t think Lu would sound like a girl at almost seventeen.” Thatch muttered._

_Ace frowned. “What are you talking about?” Ace demanded. “Of course Lu would sound like a girl! What else would a girl sound like?”_

_“Wait? Lu’s a girl?” Thatch screeched._

_“Yeah. Wait, how could you not have known?” Ace asked._

_Marco just nodded and pretended that he’d known all along. Everyone else was doing the same thing, even Pops, trying to make it look like they had figured it out. Thatch was still shaking his head in denial._

_“No, but his… er… her name is Lu and that’s totally a boy’s name!”_

_“Lu is short for Luciella, her name’s a mouthful so I just call her Lu.” Ace said slowly as Thatch looked like he was having a mental breakdown. Ace turned to them. “You all knew, right?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Totally!”_

_“I knew all along…”_

_Everyone was practically talking over each other but Marco’s mind went back through all the things Ace had ever told them about Lu (and there was a hell of a lot) but nothing in it said that Lu was a girl. She hunted Grand Line Sized Beasts by herself, mugged people, conned, dined and dashed, sparred with Ace, was freakishly strong, and had a large appetite worse even than Ace’s. What type of girl was this? In Marco’s mind, he could imagine a giant of a girl probably on par with Big Mom._

_“So, is Lu bigger than you?” Izo asked._

_Ace snorted. “That girl could eat at least twice what I eat but she’s so skinny and tiny. The last time I saw her, she was thirteen and barely reached my shoulders. I don’t think she would have grown a lot either. That girl still probably weighs less than Pop’s empty sake cup.” Ace told them._

_A tiny girl with monstrous strength and appetite, she must be a D. No one talked about it after that, deciding that they didn’t want to deal with Ace’s complex coming out. Still, it answered a lot of questions for Marco about Ace’s preferences._

* * *

Lucy smiled as she set the last of her provisions on to her little fishing boat. The boat had a small cabin, bathroom, and kitchen meant for longer fishing trips and was around the size of Ace’s boat. This one had been given to her by one of the old fishermen in Fuusha and she’d taken the chance to save money and accepted immediately. Seventeen, today she was finally seventeen and though she’d wanted to set sail first thing in the morning, she’d been persuaded to wait until the afternoon because the villagers had wanted to celebrate her birthday.

All of the bandits and the villagers were gathered by the water saying their goodbyes. Dadan was off at the very front with Makino and the Mayor and even though a part of her longed for her Grandpa to be there, to cheer her on, her resolve to become a pirate was clear. _‘Just wait for me, Ace.’_

 _‘Always.’_ He replied and she felt the rush of love.

She smiled. _‘And watch over us, Sabo.’_ She thought as she sent her own answering wave of affection to Ace. (Unknown to either of them, their lifemate’s bond was touched and the blonde revolutionary dropped his spoon as a warm and euphoric feeling overcame him and he gave a truly serene smile because for once in his life he felt complete).

Lucy turned back to the people gathered on the port and waved at them as she steered her boat away only to be blocked by the Lord of the Coast. She smiled, pulled her arm back and sent him flying. With one last wave she sucked in a breath. “Thank you everyone! Thank you for taking care of me! I’ll miss you all!” She yelled at them and she pretended not to hear her foster mother’s loud sobs as the Windmills and the watchtowers faded from view.

She chuckled as she turned the wheel, following the whispers to her next meeting. Whoever it was she was supposed to meet, they would play a large role but whether or not it was directly related to her or the world, she wasn’t quite sure yet but she was excited. She tried to imagine what the person would be like, were they strong? A good fighter? Ace had been amused at some of the things she’d guessed and had told her that the likelihood of finding people who fit the criteria she’d made in her mind would be near impossible in the East Blue.

Her excitement washed away four days later when she was still sailing towards the person she’s supposed to meet. And then, of course, she’d run into a whirlpool and while she’d been able to get her ship away and anchored somewhere safe, she’d fallen into a barrel that she’d been moving and that barrel had fallen out into the ocean and by the time she was able to get into a position to see where was, her boat was nowhere in sight. In the end, Lucy resigned herself to sleeping in the barrel until she found a way to get back to her boat. On the bright side, she had a feeling that she would meet the person she had been sailing towards for the past four days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm going to be honest, there were a lot of things that kind of just popped into my mind when I was writing this and I just had to get it out. I edited it the best I could and I don't know how coherent it'll be to you guys. There were even a lot of things that I had to cut out like interactions between Lucy and Sabo's mother that I've decided to just write as a one-shot later on, and on the note of Sabo's mother, she reminds me in some ways of a cross between Walburga Black and Narcissa Malfoy in that she's obsessed with family standing and noble blood but there are hints that she cares like when Sabo's boat was shot at and I don't think her worry was just for an heir but as a mother.
> 
> And yes, Dragon does consider Ace as his son-in-law despite knowing about platonic soulmates because... well... he had a romantic soulmate and he doubted that Ace would be strong enough to resist the 'allure' that the women of Lily's family produced nor would the boy even try because Lucy was the one person he was closest too. And while Ace is his son-in-law and Lucy his biological daughter, Sabo is his adopted son of sorts and he's been contemplating reaching out to Ace but has decided against it. He gives his adopted son his privacy so he's never really looked too hard at the pendant that Sabo's always wearing which kind of sucks because he would have recognized his daughter's mark if he had. One final thing about Dragon, I kind of had this headcanon where he was an Admiral before his defection and had even run Naval Intelligence which is why he's so good at all of this cloak and dagger that he needed to establish the RA and keep them one step ahead of the WG.
> 
> Since Ace set sail on his birthday and he was three years four months and four days older than Lucy then she was 13 when he set sail. Lucy met Zoro a few months after turning fourteen, Nami when she was fifteen while Ace had been kidnapped by the Whitebeard Pirates for a month already, and Sanji was from when she was about to turn sixteen. By the way, Sanji not knowing Lucy was a girl? Well... I kind of want their second meeting to be Sanji doing a complete turnaround and fawning over her and Nami while apologizing to Lucy for how he had treated her. But yeah, they all have some exposure to haki, not that all of them are able to use it yet and those that are... well, they have varying degrees of success.
> 
> Shanks and Ace have a very good relationship here since the two of them both care about Lucy and Makino. Benn also hasn't reminded Shanks that Ace's name is the one that's written on Lucy's wrist choosing to let sleeping dogs lie. Ace has also been keeping his mark covered as a countermeasure to protect his Other from the papers. Finally, people not knowing that Lucy's a girl is because the stories Ace tells isn't really something you'd imagine a girl doing and he doesn't really use gendered pronouns it was always along the lines of 'when we were younger Lu would always...' and since he kept calling Lucy his precious family people jumped to the conclusion that she was his younger brother. Tell me what you guys think!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shells Town is finally here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had meant to get this up for Christmas then it was pushed back to New Year so a late Happy Holidays to you guys!

Lucy woke to much gentler rocking then what she’d fallen asleep too and there were voices there, not the whispering of the winds but human voices, figuring that she’d been rescued she sprung up as she stretched and saw a man lying on the ground. She blinked at them. “Why is your friend on the ground?” She asked them.

“It’s your fault!” One of the men said as he approached her. Lucy tilted her head listening to the voices around her. _‘Caution-they want to hurt you- Morganeers!-Bad Pirates!’_ One voice cautioned but the presence behind her led to another whisper _‘friend-so much potential-change the world’_. She ignored the second voice, for now, choosing to focus on the other two men instead.

A quick punch to each of the two men and a glare had sent them running away, their friend clutched between them. She turned her attention to the person she had been waiting to meet for the past few days. The boy was a bit small with pink hair and glasses and he cowered away from her but his eyes held awe. In her mind’s eye, she could see the man that the boy could be. Tall and proud. Was it her job to usher him to his dream?

She passively listened to the boy narrate his dreams as she ate the food in the storeroom. His lack of conviction and his cowardice had been holding him back and she took a deep breath as she gave him a quick hit to the head to vent her annoyance. A quick back and forth began between them before she finally declared, “I’m going to be the Pirate King!”

“But Lucy-san, to be the Pirate King… you’d have to…” She didn’t let the boy, Coby, finish before giving him a hit on the head.

“If you really want to be a great marine then you have to say things with conviction. Don’t be scared or shy about saying it out loud or you’ll never achieve it!” She told him. “You have to be ready to face hardships and danger head-on, you can’t afford to give excuses or to hesitate when you try to pursue your dream.”

Lucy watched with satisfaction as Coby nodded and sat up straight. “I’m going to be a great marine and I’ll catch pirates like Alivda!” He all but screamed.

“Just who will you be catching now, Coby?” A whale of a woman asked.

Lucy watched quietly as Coby paled and stuttered. _‘This is your first test, Coby. Will you stand up for your dream?’_ She thought as the boy began to make excuses.

Finally following them up the deck, her gaze remained on the boy while her observation haki kept track of everyone else (and she smiled inwardly as she noticed one very much welcomed presence). She listened as everyone began to give false compliments and praises about Alvida’s ‘beauty’, Coby began his spiel as well before the men rushed at her. She heard Coby’s breath hitch as he tried to step in between but he was still too untrained, too weak to be of any use so she pushed him away.

“Little girl, come play with us.” One of them called as they came closer. Lucy decided that it wasn’t worth revealing her devil fruit powers or anything else then and there and so settled for kicking their asses the same way that she would with the local gangs back on Dawn Island, with her fists and her legs. A few twists of her body, flicks of her wrists, and the liberal use of observation haki had them all knocked out in ten seconds flat (primarily through friendly fire) before turning her attention to the gaping boy and the rival captain.

“So here’s what’ll happen, you ugly old hag, you’re going to give me your treasure, a boat, and you’re not going to say anything while Coby and I leave.” She told the dark-haired whale.

A murderous aura washed over them and Coby gulped beside her. She saw the shaking legs and felt his fear (and the fear of the others on the crew) as the woman raised her mace menacingly. The passengers strewn about the deck were all tied up and had their eyes averted from them but she could hear the thoughts of the people _‘dead girl, foolish, so stupid! not my problem.’_

“Coby, why don’t you tell this girl exactly who I am.”

“This is Iron Mace Alvida, she’s…” Coby paused and let out a breath before glaring at the woman and Lucy could practically feel the shift in the boy’s character. “She’s the ugliest and meanest old hag to sail the blue seas!” He all but screamed.

Lucy chuckled. “Well done, Coby.”

“Why you…” The whale growled angrily. “You little brats!”

“Men, who is the most beautiful woman to sail the seas?” She barked.

“You are, Lady Alvida!” The men said reflexively and fearfully.

Lucy smirked again. _‘I would say it would be Aunty Rogue since she managed to catch the eye of the Pirate King himself.’_ She thought. “You? Beautiful? My mom is more beautiful than you!” She said and she wasn’t lying. Her birth mother was a venerable beauty and one who had drawn people through the allure that the women emitted, her aunt and adoptive mother Makino had caught the eye of her Uncle Shanks and many a man who had seen her, finally, there was Dadan who had lost a lot of weight now that she wasn’t stressing about Ace so much and had gone back to being an active bandit (and for a girl who could see the beauty in a person’s soul and personality, her foster mother had a lovelier soul than the woman in front of her).

She gently shoved Coby back once more as she immediately raised her hand and caught the mace, holding it steady as Alvida struggled. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her as the iron mace shattered from her tight grip. “What… what are you?” Alvida asked.

“Someone you couldn’t ever hope to beat.” She responded before drawing her arm back and punching the woman in the gut sending her flying away.

Lucy turned her eyes towards the pirates. “Release your captives and get back to your ship!” She commanded and watched as they scrambled about cutting the ropes around them and she smirked once more as she felt the marine ship she’d been feeling for a while now and grabbed Coby’s hand before dragging him along with her as she jumped off the side of the ship and landed on to the little boat that was just about to take off.

“What the…” the owner of the boat asked before her eyes widened. “Lucy!”

“Nami!” She said as she threw her arms around the girl.

“Were you the reason for all of that commotion?”

“Yes, well… half of the reason. The other half was ‘cause that ugly whale and her men were there.”

“Only you, Lucy.” Nami said with a smile.

“Umm…” Coby began “I’d hate to interrupt but if we don’t leave then the marines might arrest us.”

Nami blinked and turned to him and Lucy knew she had so many more questions but had pushed her to go. “Nami, do you know where the closest whirlpool is? The one close to my island?” Lucy asked.

“Sure. Why?”

“My ship was anchored to it so that I could move one of the empty water barrels but I got knocked into it and it fell overboard. My things are still there.” She said and gave Nami the same look she would give Ace and her grandpa when she wanted something that she absolutely had to have (and it usually had them giving in), Nami turned her eyes away, face slightly red as she nodded.

“Thank you!” She said as she gave Nami another hug. She could feel Ace prodding her mind a bit possibly due to the excitement leaking in their bond.

_‘So, you really need a navigator, huh?’_

_‘Shut up, Ace! I can navigate, I just want someone who specializes in it!’_

_‘Yeah, right. You’re hopeless.’_

_‘AM NOT!’_

_‘Are too!’_

_‘Not!’_

_‘Yes, you are!’_

_‘No!_

_‘Yes!’_

_‘No!’_

_‘Yes!’_

_‘No!’_

_‘No!’_

_‘Yes!’_

Hearing Ace’s chuckle and smug satisfaction, Lucy realized that she’d been played and she huffed. _‘Meanie!’_ She thought before stopping their conversation.

 _‘Aww, come one, Lu. Don’t be like that.’_ Ace said after a few tries at getting her attention but she ignored him.

“Hey, Nami, where are you going anyway?” She asked the girl.

“Hmm?” Nami asked as she adjusted the boat’s course. It seemed that her boat wasn’t really that far off and the tides just took her the long way around. “Oh, I’m going to Shell’s Town. There’s a map there that I want.”

“That’s great! There’s a marine base there, we can drop off Coby so he can enlist and I can start my search for Zoro.”

“Z-z-z-Zoro? You don’t mean Roronoa Zoro the Pirate Hunter do you?” Coby asked stuttering.

Lucy turned her attention to the boy. “Of course I do.”

“But… what do you want with a demon like him?”

“He’s my first mate!” Lucy told him with a bright smile.

“He… he’s a bad man! They say he wields three swords and cuts people down without hesitation.”

“Yeah, that kinda sounds like him.” Lucy said with a smile. “Man, I wonder where that moron got too?”

“What makes you so sure he’ll even join you, Lucy-chan?” Nami asked as she interrupted Coby.

“Oh, he’s already agreed to join me!”

Nami blinked at her and Lucy just continued to smile. “How?” The orange haired girl asked.

“I beat him in a sword fight and he agreed to be my first mate.” Lucy explained.

“You…” Nami said disbelievingly. “You beat Roronoa Zoro, East Blue’s Greatest Swordsman, in a sword fight.”

“Yeah, I was fourteen and he was really strong but I had really good teachers.”

Nami just shook her head and sighed. “Well, they say he’s been captured and is being detained in Shell’s Town.”

Lucy beamed at her.

* * *

Coby sat on the deck reading one of the many marine books that Lucy had on her little ship. Nami was at the wheel steering it and Lucy was sitting close to Nami talking to her about someone named Makino. Coby relished the peacefulness that he’d had in the past three days since he began this small journey with the two girls. It was one of the things he had missed during his days with Alvida.

“What are you reading, Coby?” Lucy asked loudly.

“I’m reading the Marine’s handbook, I need to know all of this if I want to be a good marine.”

“Coby.” Lucy began, voice changing from carefree to serious. “There’s a difference between being a good little marine that follows every order and a great marine that follows the justice of morals.”

“What do you mean, Lucy-san?” Coby asked confused.

“I’m a Pirate and Nami is a Thief, are we bad people?” She asked.

Coby shook his head immediately. Nami might have a temper but she wasn’t evil, greedy perhaps but even then, she had a limit. Lucy, on the other hand, could hardly pass as a pirate and the only reason he knew that she was one was that she kept announcing it, really, the girl was just so nice.

“See, there are two types of Pirates, the Peacemains who set out to Sea because they’re in love with it, because they want adventure, and because they have dreams. Sometimes, they’re pushed to it by the circumstances of life too, those that seek freedom or a better life. And then there are the Morganeers who are the bad types of pirates that you hear about.” Lucy began as she held her hands out to explain.

“And just like that, there are different types of marines. The first are those who follow every order given to them without question and do everything by the book, it could be because they believe in the Institution so much or they just don’t want to make the effort of actually questioning things. It can make them a good marine, a model one, and while not necessarily a bad person, they wouldn’t think twice about doing bad things because they believe that the people that the orders came from are always right. Then there are the corrupt marines who would use their position for their own gain, people will always suffer where they walk because they only care about themselves. And finally, there are those who are great marines because they follow orders but not before questioning it and coming through with their own decisions. They follow the type of justice that recognizes what is for the best interest of the people.”

“Bad orders? The Justice of the People?” Coby questioned and he could see Nami listening in as well.

“There are two types of Justice in the world. Absolute Justice which only sees the world in black and white. If they are ordered to kill every woman and infant in order to find a certain criminal’s family line and eliminate it, they won’t even ask questions or protest, they’ll just do it.” Lucy told them, her head swinging back and forth to look at both Coby and Nami. Coby felt the chills run across his body as he tried to deny it but something about the way she said it that told him it had actually happened.

“Then there’s the second type of justice. Moralistic Justice. You question orders that you know are morally wrong. Being forced to slaughter an entire village because it was ordered by the higher-ups but helping the children hide and get away because it’s the only thing you can do. On the other hand, a pirate raids an innocent town so you attack and capture them because they wanted to hurt people. Those that follow the justice of Morals will always question the orders that don’t seem right but they will be forced to do their job anyway, at least in certain circumstances, even if it breaks a part of them.”

“Neither justice is perfect but remember this, Coby. No matter what justice you follow, so long as you work for the government, you will always take orders from the Celestial Dragons and that, I believe, is the biggest betrayal of the so-called Absolute Justice which says that no one is exempt from the laws and justice and the sins of the father is inherited by the son. And ask yourself this, if absolute justice was real, then why don’t they arrest the Celestial Dragons for slavery when slavery has been banned for over two hundred years?”

Coby was quiet as he tried to understand what she had just told him. He wanted to say that the marines weren’t bad but he knew that to be a marine meant that he _would_ have to answer to the World Nobles. He hardened his resolve. “That doesn’t matter. I’m still going to be a marine! I’m going to change things!” He declared. (He didn’t see Lucy smile, didn’t know that she saw an image of what he could be).

“The only thing you have to ask yourself now is this, what type of marine will you be? Once you begin your journey as a marine, you’ll have to answer that question and you’ll have to ask it over and over again throughout your career to give yourself the resolve to be that person.” Lucy told him before turning away and walking back into her cabin.

* * *

Lucy’s watch was just about over when Coby sat beside her. “Lucy-san, do you truly believe that I could become a marine? Especially since I was a member of Alvida’s crew?”

“Of course.” Lucy said as she turned to him. “You wouldn’t be the first marine who started out life as a pirate. One of the men my grandpa tried to set me up with was a Rear Admiral who was at least thirteen years older than I was and a former pirate. He was also the last one he set me up with. I guess he ran out of marines to throw at me since I threw the others down a ravine or drove them off but not that one. I guess gramps thought that since the boy he’d raised as my adopted brother, the boy he wanted me to marry had run off to become a pirate then marrying a former pirate turned marine would satisfy me.” She told him.

Lucy thought back to those days after her grandfather had heard that Ace had run away and all the recruits he’d brought home. Her grandfather _knew_ about the soulmarks so she couldn’t understand why he thought anyone could replace Ace. (In truth, What Garp was thinking was that if word of Lucy being courted by marines had gotten to Ace then he would rush back and come to claim her at which point Garp would already have been waiting to take them both to Marineford).

“Just be yourself, Coby. Be brave, be good, and be true.” She told him before heading towards the cabin where Nami was already resting.

The lamp on the table was still turned on so Lucy pulled out a few sheaths of paper and her pen as she began writing a letter.

* * *

Lucy nodded to Nami as she separated from them to look for the map. Coby walked beside her as they toured the town for a bit before heading to the base since she wanted to spend some more time with her friend before they went their separate ways. Lucy could feel the fear and tension that radiated from everyone and she had seen the buildings in disrepair in what was supposed to be a prosperous and safe town. She immediately knew what it meant and she frowned as she glared at the base.

“I guess we should go and find Zoro.” She said and the people immediately stepped away from her.

She raised a brow but shook it off, Zoro had a notorious reputation and she could only imagine what he’d done to get locked up. “I have to see what he’s done to get the Marines to capture him.”

The moment she said the word ‘Marines’ the citizens’ fear had all shot up and she knew that her theory had been correct. Coby seemed confused for a moment but she could _feel_ the moment it became clear to him. His fist began to clench and he marched towards the base. It seemed her friend had truly begun to grow into his own. Before he could march through the gates, she grabbed his hand and led him to a side wall, already feeling Zoro’s presence.

She jumped up and caught hold of the edge of the wall, pulling herself up and sitting at the top to stare down at him and her blood boiled at the sight of him tide outside like some sort of spectacle. She might not want to be a marine but that didn’t mean she hated them, not when some of the most influential figures in her life were marines. Everything about this town was a mockery to what the people in her life believed in and what they fought for. Her grandfather’s face was the most prominent in her mind, his belief in justice and in doing good for the people had always been strong and this… it was a sickening slap in the face. She felt Coby’s struggling figure settle beside her and she could feel his anger as well.

Yes, the boy would be a good fit for her grandfather. Zoro raised his head and glared at them, a smirk on his lips but his voice was raspy as he spoke. “Enjoying the view?”

“Eh, could be better.” Lucy said with a shrug as she smiled at him. “I gotta admit, when I set out to Sea, I didn’t expect to find you in this situation. Want me to bust you out?”

“Meh, I got a week left anyway. You think you can wait that long?”

“I don’t really have a choice, do I? But our navigator might have something to say against that.” She said. She paused as she gazed down sensing a bright and innocent presence and sure enough, a little girl had approached the wall, a ladder in one hand and a handkerchief filled with what could only be food in the other. She made a shushing motion as she started climbing the ladder and dropped to the ground before approaching the tied up bounty hunter.

Lucy watched for a few moments as Zoro tried to drive the girl away before she motioned for Coby to drop and hide. Lucy kept her head slightly above the wall and she barely held in a snarl at the blonde haired brat that reminded her so much of the spoilt stuck up nobles that were so common in Goa but there was something there, an underlying of potential that she refused to acknowledge at this moment. And she watched as the little girl was thrown over the wall, Lucy’s body twisting into position as she sprang from her position to catch the girl and tucked her securely underneath her arms as they rolled a bit.

Coby was already at their side by the time she sat up, kneeling beside them, a worried look on his face. The little girl was leaning against her and Lucy knew she was trying hard not to cry. So she gave the little girl a pat on her head before standing them both up and passing her on to Coby. She knew that her friend had caught her meaning when he nodded and led the little girl away.

“I’ll walk you home so just point to where you live.” She heard Coby say before Lucy turned her attention back to the men on the other side of the wall. Her eyes assessing the blonde prat as he threw his father’s name and ‘power’ around. So it hadn’t even been his own authority that was being followed but his father’s.

She approached Zoro once she was sure they were gone and eyed him curiously. “Are you still sure you don’t want me to free you?”

“I made a deal with them, a month tied out here with no food and water from them and the little girl and her mother are free from punishment.”

Lucy smiled at Zoro’s chivalry and honor. A promise is something meant to be kept, you shouldn’t make a promise knowing you’ll just break it later on. She nodded at her first mate’s words and gave him some of the food that the little girl had prepared (even if it was all dirty from the blonde ass’ actions) before walking back to check on the girl. She followed the now familiar feel of Coby to a family restaurant and her eyes gleamed as she thought of stocking up on provisions.

“Onee-chan! Thank you so much for saving me!” The little girl said as she rushed at Lucy with a hug.

Lucy laughed and just patted the girl’s head. “It’s no problem. I’m just glad you’re okay.” She assured the child. “My name is Lucy, what’s yours?” She asked the child.

“I’m Rika!”

“Hello, Rika-chan! Do you know where I can get some food supplies?” She asked the girl who beamed and led her to her mother.

The woman bowed to her over and over before finally looking up. “Thank you for saving my daughter.”

Lucy waved it off and introduced herself again to Ririka, the girl’s mother and asked the same question. The woman smiled at her. “I’ll take care of it, just tell me what you need.”

“That’s awesome!” She said before dropping a pouch filled with money. “That should be good to pay for the supplies.”

“Lucy-san, you’re so nice. Are you sure you’re a pirate?” Coby asked with a sigh.

She turned to her friend with a look. “Just because I pay for things like any decent person doesn’t mean I’m not a pirate! Even Red-haired Shanks and Whitebeard pay for things.” She told him.

 _‘And sometimes, they let themselves get tied up so that the starving population can steal their food and eat for the first time in years. Right, Ace?’_ She thought.

Ace laughed in her mind. _‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’_

 _‘Sure.’_ She said, dragging out the word. _‘And little O-tama?’_

_‘She reminded me of you, when you were little.’_

_‘She’ll make it far then.’_

_‘She will.’_ Ace agreed with some pride and fondness.

_‘You are planning on keeping your promise to her, right?’_

_‘Of course, I am! It’s just not that simple, Wano is under Kaido’s jurisdiction. It’s literally where he has his base. If I try and fight him, I’ll be dragging Pops and the others in to it.’_

_‘Sorry, sorry. It’s just… they’re suffering and they aren’t free, Ace. Everyone deserves to be free.’_

_‘They do.’_ Ace agreed solemnly.

 _‘If you don’t do something about it by the time I make it to the New World, then I will.’_ She warned him.

_‘I just need some time.’_

_‘I know, I’m still in the East Blue after all.’_

_‘Shit! Sorry Lu, I gotta go.’_

_‘Talk to you later, Ace.’_

Of course, just as she was getting off of the happy feeling she always associated with being around (or connecting with) Ace, the blonde ponce had to come in and ruin her mood and she only felt marginally better after punching the moron in the face. After that, it was a rush to get to Zoro. And maybe messing with the corrupt bastard shouldn’t have been so much fun but she couldn’t help it, this was everything she’d been taught to hate (and maybe taking evidence of his corruption and later sending it on to Great Uncle Sengoku should have been enough but keeping a copy meant she had insurance against the World Government).

So breaking the statue and searching for the swords by way of Wado’s semi-sentience was hardly a task (walking into the godawful feminine room that apparently belonged to Helmeppo was hell) and facing against the hundred or so Marines that Captain Morgan had brought with him was easy, especially when Zoro was finally released. Morgan, however, was a monster.

“Anyone who’s afraid, I order you all to turn your guns to yourself and shoot. I don’t need cowards.” He spat.

Lucy glared at him before rushing at them, it was still too soon to show her abilities but that didn’t mean she couldn’t treat them like her grandfather treated the recruits (she was his granddaughter after all and they should really be honored by having a taste of Garp-style training). Adding just a little bit of speed from shave, she was on them in a flash, disarming them and tossing them away from the corrupt officer. And then she was facing against Morgan.

He at least had _some_ competence when it came to fighting but in terms of skill, he was probably a fresh recruit who had just left basic (which meant that he had finished all of his training was a commisioned officer and had just been assigned to Garp) and had been training under her grandfather for a month. In terms of overall skill, he was lacking and she suspected that many of the senior officers were better at fighting then he was, it just so happened that they respected the position more than the person (and she still questioned why they hadn’t reported it to HQ or asked for an internal audit because the World Nobles would shit their bricks at not getting their allowance).

And like a bad rash, Helmeppo popped up again with a gun against Coby’s head, distracting her. Morgan took that opportunity to attack her but she had already moved away and she trusted Zoro to finish him off as she watched with pride as Coby stood up to his captor and had even gone as far as escaping by himself with a headbutt and a stomp of his feet. Lucy finished him off with another punch to the face as she turned to her friend happily.

“I’m so proud of you, Coby!”

The pink haired boy blushed. “I… are you really, Lucy-san?”

“Of course! You’ve found your footing, now don’t lose it.”

“I won’t.” The boy promised.

“Geez, you really make a commotion wherever you go, don’t you?” Nami said as she jumped off the wall she’d been resting on.

Lucy just laughed it off though and motioned her forward. “Zoro, this is our ‘temporary’ navigator, Nami.”

Zoro nodded at the other girl as he sheathed his swords. “Nami, this is Zoro, my first mate.” She said and before she could even say anything else, she felt Zoro’s presence waver as he collapsed.

“So hungry.” The green haired man said.

Lucy shook her head and hoisted the man onto her shoulder and began walking towards Ririka’s restaurant ignoring the groans of the marines around them but she could already see one of them standing up and taking charge and she smiled. _‘Well done, little D., you’ve freed this town and they’ll be able to make it into what it once was, if not better.’_ She heard the whisper from the wind.

* * *

Later, as they sat eating around a table she turns to Coby, curious and eager to know. “Are you still planning on enlisting here or going with us until the next base?”

Coby blinked and paused in his eating, spoon poised in front of his mouth. “I think I wanna enlist here.”

“Understood.” She said as she fished out the letter she’d written the night before and handed it to Coby. “Garp-the-fist should be around the area in the next month or so, provided he keeps to his schedule and I have no doubt that he’d be the one sent to escort Morgan to HQ to be Court Martialled so give this to him, okay? And tell him that Lucy sent you. He’ll know what it means.”

The boy looked awed and starstruck as he took the letter reverently. Lucy didn’t pay any attention to anything else but her food after that (and neither Nami nor Zoro commented on her appetite having spent time with her in the past). She finished up her meal before the Marines could enter the door having felt them from a mile away.

“Excuse me but is it true that you’re all pirates?” One officer asked as he entered.

Lucy nodded at him but paused. “ _We_ are.” She said as she pointed to her two crewmates. “But he isn’t. He was just held hostage by Iron Mace for two years and I decided to drop him off at the nearest Marine base to enlist.” She said as she pointed to Coby.

Nami immediately protested. “Why are you grouping me in with you?” She asked fist raised.

“You sail the seas stealing.” Lucy pointed out.

“I steal from _Pirates_.” Her friend said as she hit Lucy over the head.

“A thief is still a thief and being a Pirate is way better than being called a bandit.”

“Says who? If anything, I’m a burglar!”

“Should you really be saying that in front of the Marines.” Zoro said calmly and Lucy sat back as Nami paled.

The same officer stepped forward. “I’m sorry but you’ll have to leave, we can’t have pirates here. But as thanks for stopping Morgan, we won’t report your presence to HQ.”

“And Coby?”

“We can’t have pirates here, I’m sorry.”

“If you’re not planning on letting him enlist, just wait until the escorting officer from HQ arrives and hand him over to them, he knows what to do from there.” Lucy told them, willing them to take her friend in because he needed to become a Marine, the person that she’d seen whenever she glanced at Coby was someone who would have a great impact on the world in the coming years.

“What do you…” But the officer was cut off.

“Please, sir!” Coby said, voice confident as he stood up. “I just want to make a difference! I want to catch people like Alvida, I want to become a Marine! It’s been my dream since childhood!” He said.  Lucy turned to her two crewmates and they all gave her the same proud smile she no doubt had on her face. _‘Well done, Coby. You’ve learned to speak your dream without hesitation.’_ She thought as she took in the fire in his eyes and the way he stood, back straight and head held high.

The officer stepped closer to him, eyeing him before turning away. Lucy could feel Coby’s disappointment but he didn’t let it show and she knew that the officer had something else in him, he was going to accept Coby. “Your life won’t be easy. From now on, you’ll spend your life devoted to the pursuit of justice, you’ll be pushed harder than you’ve ever been pushed before, you’ll be training day in and day out and every single moment from now until the day you retire or die, you’ll have to prove that you are trustworthy. You’ll be forced into positions where you’ll have to make difficult decisions. Are you sure you want that?”

Coby shook and Lucy could feel his excitement and happiness. “Sir, Yes, Sir!” He said in a proper salute.

“Then this is where we part ways, I’ll see you at the top, Coby.” She said as she stood up, Nami and Zoro following her as well.

She was treated to the warm farewells from the villagers and the (tearful on Coby’s part) salute of the Marines as they pulled away from the harbor, Nami at the helm and Zoro moving about adjusting the sails as per Nami’s commands. _‘So the blonde ponce will become your best friend, huh, Coby?’_ She thought as she remembered the flash of the person Helmeppo could be. She glanced back at Nami and saw that she was talking to Zoro about the islands he’d been on when a thought struck her.

“Hey, Nami!” She called out, breaking through their conversation.

“Hmm?” She asked.

Lucy grinned as she threw a look at Zoro. “Do me a favor and never let Zoro steer. He gets lost walking in a straight line even when the path is clearly marked for him.”

Zoro bristled. “I don’t get lost! The damn buildings keep moving!”

“And I suppose East Blue Islands move as well?”

Nami looked at Zoro in shock before her face cleared. “Unless we’re in a life or death situation and everyone else is incapacitated, you are not allowed within two feet of the wheel ever.” She told him.

Zoro grumbled so Lucy decided to change the topic. “Zoro, come help me put the supplies away!”

* * *

Koala watched as her partner began a (semi-self-destructive) cycle of sleeping with dark-haired men and women. Sabo always felt awful and guilty the next morning but he couldn’t stop. She suspected that it had something to do with his past, whoever it was that he’d left behind, Sabo had loved them deeply, like _loved_ them. There were moments when he would begin talking about someone, a faraway look in his eye before he’d pause and he’d be brought back to reality the memory broken and inaccessible and he’d throw himself at the first dark-haired person around their age that he could find was willing to have him in their bed.

But Koala would always remember that one morning when Sabo had paused in the middle of his meal and he’d smiled so beautifully like all was right in his world for a single moment in time. He hadn’t smiled like that before and he never did again but she would always treasure it. Whatever had triggered it, she would always be thankful to know that her friend wasn’t really as broken and she had hope that he might one day remember.

She knew that nothing she did could ever make him happy like that so she settled for being there for her friend, for picking up the pieces of himself that he cuts away during missions or whatever part of himself shatters in the mornings after (and there’d been a fair few in the past few months). She always kept fresh clothes out for him, sparred with him, read with him, or just sat in his room giving him as much comfort as she could with her silence just like he’d done for her during those hard days when she was reminded of her time in captivity or when the days became too much for her. And Hack, well, he was the one who made them tea and made sure they were both well enough (mentally) for the mission, he was the ‘den mother’ of the group, long-suffering and patient. They were their own little family (because as much as she loved her mother, she could never forgive her or her village for what happened to Tiger-san).

* * *

The Whitebeard pirates watched in amusement as Ace paid more and more attention to the news, always ensuring that he would have his own copy as he scanned through it with impatience before tossing it away to whichever crewmate was still waiting for a turn. It had been amusing to everyone to see the Second Division Commander sulk in disappointment after reading the news. Of course, Haruta figured it out and had discussed it with their Father and the rest of the Commanders in a private meeting (the-watching-over-Ace-club minus the senior members: the Spade Pirates).

“Lu must have turned 17 already so she’s probably out at Sea now.” Haruta explained.

Thatch nodded. “Right! And Ace is waiting for her bounty poster so that he can have a picture of his beloved Lu!”

“So we need to be the first ones to get her poster so we can surprise Ace!” Haruta declared.

“Oh, young love.” Whitebeard said with a wistful smile.

Marco just sighed at them as the division commanders began talking about the great gift they’d give to Ace. (Of course, they don’t count on the fact that Ace was on watch when the poster finally came out and he was the first one to see it so they were treated to a hyperactive commander with eyes shining with pride and adoration and more than one burnt crewmate a few weeks after their conversation).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm also working on my other fics right now so I might not update as frequently but I hope you liked this one!!! Coby will grow into his own and he'll be a significant player for the coming years (the final war, the fall of Mariejois, etc...) but Lucy doesn't know how important he'll be yet and his biggest supporter/support system will be his right-hand man and best friend Helmeppo! I had meant to let this chapter go on to Orange Town but I decided against it because this one was more about Coby and influencing the kind of man he'll become, the type that has Garp, Tsuru, Sengoku, Fujitora, Smoker, Tashigi, and Aokiji at the very core (those who have strong morals even if they are tied down by their duties). It became very important to me that he loses the wide-eyed naivety and that Coby sees or at least begins to see that the Navy and the World Government isn't the shining beacon of justice and goodness that they portray themselves as.
> 
> As for Sabo? Well, it's kinda like when you've just broken up with someone and you're on the rebound. He's trying to feel the same high he felt in that one moment when the bond was active and he felt complete but it always fell flat but don't worry, best-friend/sister Koala is there with Mama bear... err... Papa fish(?) Hack. And the Whitebeard pirates? Yeah the commanders and Whitebeard are members of the Watching-over-Ace club founded by the First Mate Deuce to help him with Ace and his narcoleptic, self-sacrificing, moronic, and impulsive tendencies and when they joined the family and took the mark they offered them membership and they all joined (Marco was dragged into it by Whitebeard).


End file.
